This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.

India Is Wooing Investors With A Trillion-Dollar Opportunity In Electricity

It needs $2.5 trillion to curb growth in pollution from fossil fuel
Essam Al Sudani / Reuters

India urged investors to capitalize on a trillion-dollar opportunity that will emerge over the next 15 years when power consumption is expected to quadruple.

Investors should bring advanced technologies and "meticulous planning" to the electricity industry, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said Wednesday at an India-Japan joint seminar on smart meters in New Delhi. The country has said it needs $2.5 trillion to curb growth in pollution from fossil fuels by 2030.

"This is where the opportunity lies for investment and production of new technologies," Goyal said in his remarks, which were streamed live on the internet. India is one of "the world's fastest growing economies among the large ones."

India currently has total installed capacity of more than 300 gigawatts. Over the next six years India seeks $200 billion to fund Prime Minister Narendra Modi's renewable-energy target. It will introduce 175 gigawatts of green power, up from almost 45 gigawatt at now. Increasing the capacity of renewable energy is one way India seeks to reconcile energy security and environmental concerns.

The world's second-most populous nation is in talks with the J apanese International Cooperation Agency and Japan Bank for International Cooperation to help fund its 100-gigawatt solar target, according to Goyal.

As part of its climate pledges to the United Nations in November, India plans to boost the amount of non-fossil-fuel power to 40 percent from about 30 percent by 2030.

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.