'We achieved COP21 pledge 9 years in advance,' says Power Minister R K Singh

R K Singh, Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy, on Friday said India achieved its COP21 pledge nine years in advance. 

Speaking at the Business Today-Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy 'Scripting a Renewable Future' event in New Delhi, Singh said, "At COP21 in Paris, in 2015, we pledged that 40% of our energy will come from non-fossil fuels, which we achieved 9 years in advance, in November 2021."

"85% of the legacy carbon dioxide load is because of developed nations while India's contribution is only 3.4% evern though our population is 17.5%. On per capita basis, we are one of the lowest emitters in the world," Singh told Rahul Kanwal, News Director, India Today and Aaj Tak.

"Our rate of capacity addition has been one of the fastest in the world. We have emerged as one of the most attractive investment destinations for renewables. Every major fund in the world has invested in India and more are coming. We have built a huge ecosystem for renewables," said Singh.

The union minister also spoke about the reduction in emissions intensity that India achieved in recent years. 

"In 2019, when we carried out an assessment we had reduced our emissions intensity by 29% as against a target of 33% by 2030 and in 2023 it stands at 32% and now our new target for 2030 is 45%," said Singh.

If developed countries had been serious about energy transition, they would have put in place more manufacturing capacity for storage and they would have added to the demand for storage and the volumes would have been much more and the prices would have come down, he said.

89% of world's known lithium reserves have been tied up with China. So, there's a supply chain problem, added Singh.

"For setting up 1 MW of solar in India, I need $600,000 (Rs 4.5 crore), which is lowest in the world. That's why green hydrogen will also be the cheapest," said R K Singh.

When asked if Adani-Hindenburg row will affect green energy investments in the country, as announced by the conglomerate, Singh said "it doesn't matter".

"Many large companies are coming to India. So, one company not doing well or going under doesn't matter. SoftBank came here, they couldn't matter, they left. So, it doesn't matter," said R K Singh.

Earlier this month, the Central government allocated Rs 10,222 crore to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy as part of the Union Budget 2023.

Talking about the Green Hydrogen Mission during this year's Budget announcement, the Finance Minister said it would facilitate the transition of the economy to low carbon intensity, reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports and make the country assume technology and market leadership in this sunrise sector. "Our target is to reach an annual production of 5 MMT by 2030," she said.

Apart from this, last month, the Union cabinet also approved an initial outlay of Rs 19,744 crore for the National Hydrogen Mission.