India is showing political will to develop renewable energy despite challenges such as land regulations, a senior official of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said here.
Francesco La Camera, Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency, made the remarks on Wednesday while releasing a report on “A Climate-Safe and Sustainable Energy System” at the Asia Clean Energy Summit here.
“The most important thing is the political will (of India),” he said at a press conference, highlighting the Indian government’s commitment to achieve its renewable energy targets as part of its stronger efforts to manage climate change. Speaking on the challenges in developing renewable energy, Camera said, “naturally, in India it is not simple reality.”
“You have some problems with the regulations of land and the rights of the people and many others,” the official said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced at the September United Nations Climate Action Summit that India is increasing its renewable energy target to 450 gigawatts as a part of a stronger climate action plan, up from its present target of 175 GW by 2022.
Camera also expressed satisfaction with the cost of renewables coming down.
The USD cost of solar PV in India has come down by 79 per cent per kilowatt hour and 24 per cent for onshore wind in 2018 from 2010, according to the IRENA report.