Having made a demand for allocation of Rs. 6,000 crore in the forthcoming Union Budget, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy hopes that maximum funds would be allocated to the sector.
“Given the thrust of the government on green energy, the Ministry is hopeful of substantial allocation to further various projects. The allocation in the current financial year is Rs. 2,500 crore,” Upendra Tripathy, Secretary to the ministry, told presspersons here on Friday.
The Ministry has been furthering the cause of green energy by providing subsidy on equipment through State-level nodal agencies; the State governments have to designate nodal officers for every district for district-level renewable energy planning, Mr. Tripathy said.
He was visiting Dakshina Kannada following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directions to Secretaries to visit their first place of posting. Mr. Tripathy was first posted as the Assistant Commissioner of Puttur Subdivision in 1982.
Increased share
Mr. Tripathy said the government expects the share of renewable energy, presently at 6.9 per cent of the total production in the country, to grow at least to 15 per cent in the next five years.
The recently concluded RE-Invest, a global investors’ meet in Delhi, was a pointer in this regard where 293 companies came forward to produce 2,66,000 MW of renewable energy. This translates into an increase of more than seven-fold, from the current production of 34,000 MW.
Mr. Tripathy said the government would provide a common platform wherein banks, power producers and State governments could come together to take forward the initiative. Banks have agreed to finance up to 76,000 MW of renewable energy production at the rate of Rs. 5 crore a MW, he said.
