India’s energy needs are going to double in the next 6-7 years at the present rate of growth of the economy, according to the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and Renewable Energy, R K Singh.

Speaking at the curtain raiser for RE-Invest 2017, Singh said, “We expect India's per capita energy consumption to double in the next 6 to 7 years, and then double again after 5 years.”

RE-Invest 2017 is the flagship event of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to highlight the achievements and attract investments in the clean energy sector.

Commenting on the record low tariffs for solar energy in the country, Singh said, “As demand for solar energy increases, I see tariffs and price of cells and modules falling further.”

Also speaking at the event, Secretary, MNRE, Anand Kumar, said that RE-Invest 2017 is likely to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in December this year.

An official statement said, “The industry and developers had committed for 293 GW of renewables and against this, 39.3 GW capacity is commissioned or under implementation. As against the financial pledge of Rs 4 lakh crore by banks, Rs 1.8 lakh crore have been sanctioned.”

Of the disbursals by banks, none of the foreign banks have met their commitment of lending Rs 12,000 crore for 2,400 MW of renewable energy projects. The highest compliance has come from private sector non-banking financing companies that have sanctioned 79.38 per cent or Rs 49,611.25 crore of their Rs 62,500-crore commitment.

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