Observing that the demand for the solar cells in India for the next 10 years will be 12 times more than the country's manufacturing capacity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that the central government is aiming to produce 40 gigawatt (GW) solar energy by rooftop solar projects in next one-and-a-half years.
Prime Minister made the assertions while addressing a webinar on effective implementation of provisions of Union Budget 2021-22 in the power sector.
"Many discussions were held even before the budget to accelerate the energy sector in India. This dialogue is necessary for speedy implementation of budget announcements. The demand for solar cells in our country for the next 10 years is 12 times more than our manufacturing capacity today. So far, we have achieved capacity of around 4GW energy by solar panels on the rooftop and around 2.5GW will be added soon. The government aims to produce 40GW solar energy by rooftop solar projects in 1-1.5 yrs. The campaign to strengthen and reform the power sector will be intensified in coming days," he said.
Under rooftop solar projects, rooftop solar panels consisting of solar cells are installed on roof of a house to harness the energy of the sun and convert it to electricity.
During the webinar, the Prime Minister also highlighted central government's efforts to strengthen the power sector.
"The four mantras we carried in the power sector are -- Reach, Re-enforce, Reform and Renewable Energy. We insisted on providing electricity to every village in the country and then to every home. Today, India has become a power surplus country from a power deficit country. India has also achieved the goal of One Nation, One Grid, One Frequency," he said.
"PM Kusum Yojana is turning 'annadata' into 'powerdata'. Under this scheme, the government aims to achieve 30 GW solar energy capacity by installing small power plants in agriculture fields," PM Modi added.
Energy sector experts and stakeholders along with RK Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Power and New and Renewable Energy were also present in the webinar.
( With inputs from ANI )
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