India Govt reveals achievements in power and renewable energy

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy, Shri Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal, union minister of State for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, today revealed the achievements in the last few years.

New & Renewable Energy

In 2016-17, India crossed major milestones of achieving 175 GW of renewable power by 2022. By introducing competitive bidding, Government has ensured that renewable energy is affordable and attractive for consumers.

2016-17 saw the lowest tariffs in both solar (Rs 2.44) and wind (Rs 3.46) energy. 2016-17 also marks the first year when net capacity addition of renewable energy was higher than that conventional energy. The past year also saw the highest ever addition of solar and wind power.

Power

All States have signed Power for All agreements.

India added 60GW in conventional power, about 40% increase in transformation capacity, and over one-fourth increase in transmission lines since April 2014-March 2017. India became a net exporter of electricity in 2016-17.

UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana), as a comprehensive reform of the distribution sector saw progress, with savings of nearly Rs 12,000 crore for DISCOMs due to issuance of UDAY Bonds worth Rs. 2.32 lakh crore. These savings will help in providing affordable power to consumers. Through reforms, India’s ranking in ‘Ease of Getting Electricity’ by the World Bank rose from 99 in 2015 to 26 in 2017.

The scheme for rural electrification (Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana) has received special attention. Less than 4,000 of the 18,452 remaining un-electrified villages as of 1 April 2015 remain, and will be electrified by May 2018.

The Government has set the target of electrifying every household by 2022. About 4.5 crore rural households remain, as per data submitted by the states.

India distributed more than 23 crore LED bulbs under UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable Electricity for All), saving Rs 12,400 crore in electricity bills, and reducing CO2 emissions by over 2.5 crore tons annually.