With the rising population level in most of the cities in India, it was much needed that India should switch to renewable energy sources to fulfil their need. It was not long ago when the NTPC power plant in Delhi had to shut down because it was creating so much pollution. Delhi and Mumbai have been in news for their pollution level for quite a long time. Recently Mumbai surpassed Delhi to become the most polluted city in India. In that kind of situation, renewable energy become very important and the government are also working toward that.
In the renewables 2022 global status report, India ranked 4th in renewable energy production. To encourage renewable energy production, India has allowed 100% FDI (foreign direct investment) in this sector. As result, India has increased their renewable energy production capacity by 396% in the last 8.5 years. In October 2022, India’s renewable energy production capacity was 165.94 GW, which is 40.6% of the total energy production capacity. Is this all due to allowing 100% FDI? We can’t say no to that. According to data released by the department for the promotion of industry and internal trade( DPIIT ), in the era of April 2000- June 2022, India got 12.57 billion dollars through FDI, which is approximately 1 lakh crore INR. Currently, the Indian government is expecting that we will be producing 49% of electricity through renewable energy sources in 2040. Which looks achievable looking at the current pace. Another important target of the Indian government is to attract 80 billion dollars of investment in the renewable energy sector in the next 4 years. Since 2014, India has got 70 billion dollars of investment in this sector.
The country is doing good in this sector but we still have a long way to go so. After surpassing China, India is now the most populated country in the world. When you are running the most populated country in the world, you know that you have to do much more than what other countries are doing. India has very much potential in the renewable energy sector with proper planning and execution India can become 100% dependent on the renewable energy source.