In 2012-13, electricity produced by renewables met the electricity requirements of 6 crore people, but India still reels under immense energy poverty with 50 per cent of households in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and Jharkhand yet to be connected to the grid.
Also, as many as 50 crore people have access to less than six hours of daily electricity and 70 crore do not have access to clean cooking fuel, according to the Citizen's Report on State of Renewable Energy released by Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah on Friday.
The report drafted by Centre for Science and Environment stressed on decentralisation of renewable energy sources as the answer to nation's energy poverty.
The study, however, warns that renewable energy projects can have major ecological impacts if environmental safeguards are not put in place. The projects must benefit the local community. The citizens must have the first right over electricity from renewables and they must benefit from its installation on their land.
The study advocates putting in place an integrated policy and plans till 2050.It states that the 12th Five Year Plan is not ambitious enough and the country needs to go beyond these targets.