Talking about universal access to electricity and energy security, the Union minister said no country can develop if it does not have sufficient electricity.

India’s rate of renewable energy capacity addition has been the fastest in the world in the past five years, after China, Union power and renewable energy minister RK Singh said at Moneycontrol’s Policy Next Summit on January 18.

Delivering the keynote address at the summit, Singh said that while focusing on energy transition, the Indian government has also simultaneously ensured universal access to electricity by connecting 28 million households in a record 19 months.

“Today we have 180,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity. We had earlier pledged that by 2030, 40 percent of our energy capacity will come from non-fossils. But today, our non-fossil electricity generation capacity stands at 44 percent. We are way beyond the target – some seven years in advance. So we have upped our target now and pledged that 50 percent of our capacity will come from non-fossil sources by 2030,” the Union minister said.

He mentioned that India will surpass its target of setting up 500 GW of renewable energy capacity addition by 2030 and that the non-fossil side of capacity addition will be about 65 percent.

The minister said the government has made total investments worth Rs 17 lakh crore in the power sector since 2014 and Rs 17.5 lakh crore more are in the pipeline. “We are adding around 99,000 MW of renewable energy capacity, which is under construction,” Singh said.

Talking about universal access to electricity and energy security, the Union minister said no country can develop if it does not have sufficient electricity.

“One distinct feature separating developed and developing countries is that power does not go off. No country can be developed without electricity. I believe electricity is the most important infrastructure which is a marker of development,” Singh said.