Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy felicitated 102 awardees at CST & Solar Cooker Excellence Awards- 2016 here today. Shri Goyal also released 9 knowledge documents collated by several experts to provide information on Concentrated Solar Thermal Technology (CST) on the occasion. felicitated 102 awardees at CST & Solar Cooker Excellence Awards- 2016 here today. Shri Goyal also released 9 knowledge documents collated by several experts to provide information on Concentrated Solar Thermal Technology (CST) on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Piyush Goyal said that India now will lead the world towards clean energy rather than follow. “With 21 GW of grid-connected new solar projects out in the market, India has signalled to the world that we're ready to lead” he added.

Shri Goyal further said that solar programme will not only ensure energy security of our country but also provide power to the last person at the bottom of the pyramid. Appreciating the awardees, the Minister said that such individual projects have a vital role to play in achieving holistic solar targets.

Shri Goyal reiterated that Indian solar targets are achievable. He said that we have exceeded our solar targets by 116% this year in comparison to last year and already had awarded projects of 11,000 MW. The awards were given to various stakeholder groups including State Nodal Agencies, Manufacturers/Suppliers of the technology and a wide range of beneficiaries to recognize their achievements made in the sector.

The Excellence Award ceremony is part of National Workshop on CST and Solar Cookers organised by Ministry of New & Renewable Energy to recognize notable achievement in off-grid and decentralized solar application.

The function was attended by Shri Upendra Tripathy , Secretary ,MNRE , Mr Jaco Cilliers , Country Director ,UNDP, Ms Ayumi Fujino , UNIDO Representative & Regional Director and senior officers of the Ministry .