PM Modi urges stakeholders to invest in India’s green journey, says renewable potential no less than any goldmine

NEW DELHI: Seeking to ensure green growth of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday invited stakeholders from across the globe to invest in renewable energy and related sectors, and said the potential of solar, wind and biogas in India is no less than any goldmine or oil field for the private sector.
“The Budget (2023-24) will play a key role in establishing India as a lead player in the global green energy market. That is why, today, I invite every stakeholder of the energy world to invest in India”, said Modi while noting that India’s commanding position in the renewable energy space will ensure a commensurate change in the world.
He was addressing the first of a series of 12 post-budget webinars organized by the government to seek ideas and suggestions for the effective implementation of the initiatives announced in the Union Budget.
Outlining increasing the production of renewable energy; reducing the use of fossil fuel in the economy; and rapidly moving towards a gas-based economy in the country as “three pillars for green growth and energy transmission”, he
flagged various provisions of the Budget that will help stakeholders including starts-up and MSMEs tap the potential of various fields ranging from waste to energy, green hydrogen, energy storage and gas-based economic activities to the multi-crore vehicle scrapping sector.
“This Budget is not only an opportunity, but it also contains the guarantee of our future security”, the Prime Minister said as he urged stakeholders to act quickly to implement its all provisions.
Green growth is one of the seven top priorities of the Budget 2023-24 for ushering green industrial and economic transition, environmentally friendly agriculture and sustainable energy in the country. It has envisaged a number of projects and initiatives spread across various sectors, ranging from green hydrogen mission, energy storage projects, green credit programme and vehicle replacement to PM-PRANAM (promote alternative fertilisers and balanced uses of chemical fertilisers), MISHTI (protecting mangroves), wetland conservation and GOBARdhan (bio-gas) scheme.
Underlining that these announcements lay the foundation stone and pave the way for future generations, the Prime Minister said, “India has been the fastest when it comes to renewable energy capacity addition among major economies since 2014”. He added that country’s track record shows its capability to achieve the objectives before time when it comes to renewable energy resources, and cited examples of achieving the goal of 40% contributions from non-fossil fuels in the installed electricity capacity nine years before the target date, and achieving the target of 10% ethanol blending in petrol five months before time.
Referring to the launch of E20 fuel, the Prime Minister noted the government’s emphasis on biofuels and said that it has brought new opportunities for investors. He observed the abundance of agri-waste in the country and urged the investors to not miss the opportunity of setting up ethanol plants in every corner of the country.
On the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the Prime Minister noted that India is moving with a target of production of 5 MMT green hydrogen. He said allocation of Rs 19,000 crores has been made to incentivize the private sector in this field.
Modi also informed that India has the potential of producing 10 thousand million cubic metres of biogas from Gobar (cow dung) and 1.5 lakh cubic meter gas which can contribute up to 8% to the city gas distribution in the country.
“Because of these possibilities, today the Gobardhan Yojana is an important component of India's biofuel strategy. In this budget, the government has announced plans to set up 500 new plants under the Gobardhan Yojana. These are not like old-fashioned plants. The government will spend Rs 10,000 crore on these modern plants”, he said.
On scrapping of old vehicles that will give new strength to the country’s circular economy by following the principle of 3Rs — Reuse, Recycle and Recovery, the Prime Minister said, “Vehicle Scrapping is going to become a huge market”.