(3BL Media/Justmeans) â In the early 1980s, India became the worldâs first country to set up a ministry of non-conventional energy resources. Indiaâs grid interactive renewable energy capacity, excluding large hydropower projects, has reached 30 GW. The countryâs award-winning Solar Loan Program, run with the support of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), provides consumer financing for solar home power systems. With governmental support for wind power, India is now among the top five countries in the world in terms of installed wind power capacity.

The government of India has now announced a plan to create a corpus of $25 billion to promote green energy as a part of the countryâs long-term energy security policy. This corpus will be in the form of five funds of $5 billion each, which will have the support of Indiaâs leading financing institutions, including Power Finance Corp. (PFC), Rural Electrification Corp. (REC), Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), IFCI, SBI Capital Markets and ICICI Bank.

In a further attempt to meet the funding requirements for clean environment initiatives, India has accessed international credit lines. These include 30 billion yen for 30 years from Japan International Co-operation Agency, a $1 billion guaranteed loan from US Ex-Im Bank and â¬100 million from the Agence Francaise de Developpement of France. The government of India has declared its intent to play a proactive role as a facilitator for the renewable energy sector.

Speaking at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS), US secretary of state John Kerry said that Indiaâs initiatives can not only serve the country but the entire planet if it taps into sustainable energy resources. At the summit, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called upon India to take on a bigger role at the international level. He welcomed the governmentâs initiatives to increase use of wind and solar energy sources and building new smart cities that will use sustainable energy solutions.

Indiaâs strategy to focus on renewable sources of energy also stems from the fact that the country is keen to reduce its dependence on energy imports. Its current energy import bill of around $150 billion is expected double by 2030. To boost solar production, the government plans to train 50,000 people and turn 20,000 graduates into solar entrepreneurs to build a sort of âsolar armyâ. It also plans to set up solar parks totaling 20 GW over the next five years.

Source: Live Mint

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