PRESENT STATUS OF SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

PRESENT STATUS OF SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

Solar energy sector in India has received great impetus since the announcement of the Gujarat Solar Policy in January 2009, which was a milestone in India’s solar energy development programme. Government of Rajasthan also entered into the foray by announcing its own policies. Under these state policies, MoU’s to the tune of 716MW (from 34 developers) and 72MW (from 11 developers) were signed by Government of Gujarat and Rajasthan respectively.

On the other hand, India came under immense international pressure on emission reductions with the initial rounds of discussions taking place in various countries leading to the Copenhagen talks in December 2009.

The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) initiated by the Prime Minister’s office, paved a path to seven national missions targeting voluntary emission reductions of which the ‘National Solar Mission” was arguably the most ambitious missions amongst others.

The Government of India announced the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) on 23nd November 2009. The Honorable Prime Minster of India, Dr Manmohan Singh officially launched the mission on 11th January 2010. The JNNSM is a major initiative of the Government of India and State Governments

to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy security challenge.. The mission seeks to kick-start solar generation capacities, drive down costs through local manufacturing and Research and Development (R&D) in order to accelerate the transition to clean and secure energy.