Commending the efforts by State governments on commitments for expanding renewables, the Minister of New & Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said that his Ministry will now pursue the pledges and help them in resolving bottlenecks.

In an exclusive interaction with businessline, Joshi said, “We have come a long way, but our job is not over. We have to do more. We will interact and constantly pursue with the State governments. We will also pursue with the concerned institutions including financial institutions wherever companies face problems.”

The Minister was speaking on the sidelines of RE-INVEST 2024, which has been organised by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) in partnership with CII.

Expressing satisfaction on the outcome of the investor meet, he said total investment of ₹32.45 lakh crore has been committed for renewable energy (RE) projects till 2030, which is a “positive development”.

“I’m satisfied with the event. The interest shown by financial institutions, States and international partners is really encouraging for me and the country. IREDA is contributing an additional ₹5 lakh crore. That is wonderful,” he added.

Push to RE

Asked whether the investment figures are too ambitious, the Minister countered that India has come a long way in renewables. It is the fourth largest globally in the RE installed capacity, which also showcases its resolve on green energy transition.

“The real push to RE has happened from 2014. In 2014, our solar power capacity was less than 2 GW and today, it is over 89 GW. First investor meet happened in 2015 and second in 2018. We did in 2020, but it was online due to Covid. The thrust by the Prime Minister resulted in India’s RE sources growing to 200 GW. So, work was done and it has given good results. The world recognises that and the Centre’s firm commitment to protecting the environment has made the world take India seriously on green energy transition,” he added.

Asked about the concept of Shapath Patra, Joshi said, “I came up with the concept on commitments with the States. Even in our Ministry we were divided on whether States will commit. So, what we did was that we requested the States to firm up their plans. If they are interested and share their commitments.”

The Minister said that Shapath Patras led to positive outcomes.

“States came out with their Shapath Patras. This means they have shown interest. They have understood that they will have to expand as this helps exports also. We pursued continuously with the States. Majority of the States we approached have got back. This is a positive outcome,” Joshi said. 

RE-INVEST 2024

Earlier in a media interaction, Joshi said over 7,000 people took part in the event. Around 250 diplomats and international organisations as well as 100 companies participated.

Re-INVEST 2024 witnessed 500 meetings among businesses exploring the potential of renewables. Besides, more than 90 meetings were held between government and businesses related to issues like finance, supply chain etc.

The minister also spoke about the extensive deliberations with German and Danish diplomats and officials for cooperation in the renewable energy sector. He also informed about the launch of an Indo-German platform for financing renewable energy projects worldwide.

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