Observing that affordable access to energy is one of the main challenges which the world faces today, the Government has said that India will ensure uninterrupted affordable electricity to all households in the country in the next five years. Addressing an International seminar on energy in New Delhi this morning, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said, the goal is to provide electricity to all 600,000 villages of India. More than 100,000 villages were provided connections in recent years and now, only few thousand households remain un-electrified. Talking of renewable energy, he said, India targets to install 55 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2017.The prime minister said, solar power contributes 12 per cent to country's total electricity installed capacity and expressed hope that around 20 million rural homes will be lighted up by using solar power by 2022. Globally, he said, 1.3 billion people had no access to electricity.
Saying that the Government is taking steps to offer cooking gas to all rural households,the Prime Minister said at present, 12 per cent of 119 million rural households use LPG for cooking. All 240 million households, using six subsidised cylinders in year, would require about 25 million tonnes of LPG which can be managed. Observing that extending of distribution network may require some time he said that rural households would need subsidy for electricity and LPG. Assuring that the Government is working on a mechanism to provide subsidy to targeted individual, Dr.Singh said that the Government is looking to put in place a mechanism where subsidy would be directly transferred to bank accounts of the beneficiary.
Asking the global community to come together to share mechanism and experiences on how to achieve sustainable energy goals, Dr. Singh said global cooperation is required on gigantic scale for financing energy deficient area.
Our correspondent reports,Ministers and senior delegates from over 50 countries are participating in the two day event. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Confederation of Indian Industry is organizing the event.
The seminar proposes to bring together multiple stakeholders, including ministers, senior policy planners, multilateral and bilateral agencies and civil society working on delivery of energy to develop integrated sustainable and affordable solutions to energy access.
The focus will be to promote development of renewable energy by removing barriers impeding rise of renewable energy and its deployment in large scale for attaining sustainable energy for all. It will provide an opportunity to participating countries, organizations and the experts to showcase policy initiatives and best practices, exchange views, experiences and innovative solutions on energy access. The United Nations General Assembly has designated 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All.