India will better its 175 GW clean energy target: Official

Greater Noida: India can surpass its target of installing 175 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2022, and plans to bring offshore wind energy and large hydro-electric projects under the ambit of renewable energy towards realising this, a senior official has said.

"With prices of solar and wind coming down, we are confident that we will not only achieve the 175 GW target, but will also exceed it," New and Renewable Energy Secretary Anand Kumar said at the Renewable Energy India Expo here on Wednesday.

"Renewable energy is the only way to meet energy demand of 1.25 billion people in the country. It offers an opportunity to build a new low-carbon energy world. Harnessing it will make India an energy-independent economy," he said.

"Today, we are contemplating bringing large hydro also under the definition of renewable power. We are also contemplating to exploit our offshore wind potential," he added.

Stressing on the need to focus on solar manufacturing in the country, Kumar said the government is considering a policy that will make it mandatory for power plants to generate a certain portion of their output from renewables.

"The key challenge is how should we enable higher energy consumption in India, at a cost people are willing to pay,a he told reporters on the sidelines of the conference here.