India’s installed renewable energy capacity has registered a growth of 165% in last ten years: Pralhad Joshi

India’s installed renewable energy capacity has registered a growth of 165 per cent in the last ten years. Replying to the discussion on the working of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in the Rajya Sabha, New and Renewable Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi informed that the renewable energy capacity has increased from 76 Gigawatt in 2014 to 203 Gigawatt in 2024. He also said, India is in the fourth position globally in Renewable Energy installed capacity. Mr Joshi added that in the last ten years, around seven lakh crore rupees have been invested in renewable energy projects.  

The Minister highlighted that in the Union Budget 2024-25, more than 21 thousand crore rupees has been allocated for the New and Renewable Energy sector, which was ten thousand crore rupees last year. Mr Joshi said that such a huge allocation of the budget will create employment opportunities in the Renewable sector at the local level and reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. 

He added that one lakh 60 thousand crore rupees have been allocated for renewable energy-related schemes like PM Surya Ghar, PM Kusum and the National Green Hydrogen Mission. The Minister said, during the UPA rule, the solar power tariff was around 11 rupees per unit, which has come down to two rupees 60 paise per unit in 2024.

Earlier, Participating in the discussion, Amar Pal Maurya of BJP said, the government has provided LED bulbs to crores of families, which has saved 45 billion



units of energy. He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both development and environmental protection are going on simultaneously. Mr Maurya said under PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, the government set a target to connect one crore families. He said, over one crore 28 lakh households have already registered for the solar rooftop scheme.

Dr Fauzia Khan of NCP said, the budget for New and Renewable Energy places strong emphasis on solar power by allocating approximately 85 per cent of the total budget. She alleged that the PM Kusum scheme intended to promote solar power projects in the farmland has underperformed significantly. Santhosh Kumar of CPI alleged that there is a contradiction in the government’s approach as one side government is promoting New and Renewable Energy and at the same time, they are also promoting conventional energy. He said, the share of Coal to power basket is 50 per cent.

Birendra Prasad of Asom Gana Parishad said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the power production has increased by over 79 per cent in the last ten years. Ramji of BSP said that Solar power is very important but its price is still very high. He said, it costs one lakh rupees to produce one kilowatt of solar power. Ramji stressed on the need to produce high-quality solar panels in India. He said, apart from this, the government should also pay special attention to wind power.