India achieves 173GW RE capacity, 120GW under implementation: Bhupinder Singh Bhalla

New Delhi: India has achieved 173GW of installed renewable energy capacity while another 120GW is under various stages of implementation, a top official said on Thursday.

This assumes significance in view of India's target of having 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, which included 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro-power. India's installed renewable capacity is 173.61GW which includes 67.82GW of solar, 43.19GW of wind energy, 46.85GW of large hydro and 4.94GW of small hydro (of up to 25MW each), according to the latest official data.

"India's efforts for accelerating energy transition have been robust and decisive. Out of the total installed renewable energy capacity of over 173GW currently, India has the fourth largest high capacity in the world with another 120GW (of renewables) at various stages of implementation," said New & Renewable Energy Secretary Bhupinder Singh Bhalla while addressing the US India Energy Summit on Thursday in the capital. He further stated that the recent decision by the government to invite bids for 50GW of renewable energy capacity annually for the next five years, that is from the current (fiscal) year till 2027-28, is a resolution to transform the energy sector at a massive scale.

This aligns with India's commitment to achieving 50 per cent of its installed capacity from non-fossil fuels, he pointed out. The rapid push to develop robust offshore wind industry, the nation's hydrogen mission, the PM-KUSUM scheme (for the agriculture sector), rapid deployment of solar parks, implementation of PLI (production linked incentive scheme), national bioenergy programme and ongoing efforts to scale up rooftop solar are evidence of India's commitment to accelerate the energy transition and contribute to climate action, he noted. India and the US have long decorated history for collaborating for renewables under the India-US clean energy partnership, he also stated. "We also collaborate on our targets on cost reduction for green hydrogen under respective missions.

We have ambitious target not just for solar and onshore wind but also for offshore wind and green hydrogen," he stated. US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti talked about his cabinet-level colleagues visiting India for attending various meetings mainly the G-20 dialogue. He said, "We're welcoming not just one...but three cabinet-level envoys that will be here (in India). Our treasury secretary will be here this week in Gandhinagar. "We'll see our Secretary of Energy Granholm come here in Delhi and go and then of course, our former Secretary of State and current Special Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry will be here to looking at all of this. So I hope that reflects how deeply we are committed to not only the leadership of India for G-20," he said.