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India would take its new and renewable capacities to 54000 MW by 2017, the terminal year of the 12th Five-Year Plan, Gireesh B. Pardhan, Secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, said on Saturday. Currently, the country has around 27,000 MW of renewable energy capacity.
India produced solar energy at an average tariff of Rs 18 a unit in 2009, which now stands at Rs 7.40 per unit, Pardhan said at an industry event organised by FICCI.
“This fall in tariff for solar energy witnessed in such a short period has encouraged policy makers to explore greater possibilities to harness solar energy at a faster pace,” he added.
At the same time, India is not in favour of a proposal for setting up of a SAARC Regional Grid to cement energy co-operation among the member nations.
The Secretary said these countries should strive to build blocs for bilateral cooperation with the adoption of a bottom-up approach rather than seeking to establish a SAARC regional grid which seemed impractical.
In July 2004, the SAARC endorsed the concept of an ‘Energy Ring’ of interconnected energy systems in the region.
Vikramjit Singh Sahney, President of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the member nations should identify commodities of common interest and begin to enhance their trade for mutual benefit.
According to Sahney, the ongoing move on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline could be a model for public-private partnerships in mega infrastructure projects in the SAARC region.
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