Budget 2015 holds some encouraging trends for India’s energy sector, particularly renewable energy. Amit Bhandari, energy and environment fellow at Gateway House, comments on the budget allocations for solar and nuclear energy.
Statement:
“Budget 2015 has set an ambitious target of 175,000 MW of renewable energy to be generated in India by the year 2022 – five times the current installed base. A part of the funding required to meet India’s renewable energy goal will come from the government’s National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF). Increasing the tax on coal to Rs. 200 per tonne will generate Rs. 12,000 crore annually, which will be directed to the NCEF.
Of the 175,000 MW renewable energy target, electricity generated from solar power will account for 100,000 MW. However, India currently lacks the capacity to manufacture polysilicon chips, which are critical to make solar power cells – developing the capacity to manufacture them is crucial.
The share of nuclear power in India’s energy consumption is likely to rise. India’s finance minister announced that the second unit of the 1,000 MW nuclear plant at Kudankulam will be operational during FY16. Additionally, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India is scaling up its investment outlay by 44% to Rs 8,895 crore, indicating that the company intends to start work on 3,400 MW of fresh capacity at two locations in the coming year.”
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