India first in G-20 to achieve Paris climate commitments: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, inaugurating the 4th Global Renewable Energy Investor’s Meet and Expo (RE-INVEST) today, said India is the first nation in the G-20 to achieve the climate commitments set in Paris, 9 years ahead of the deadline.

On the first day of the two-and-a-half-day 4th RE-INVEST event, the PM outlines the nation’s goals to achieve the target of 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030 and says the government has turned the green transition into a people’s movement. Through this Rooftop Solar-PM Surya Ghar Free Electricity Scheme, the PM says every household in India becomes a power producer. He says over 1 crore 30 lakh families have registered under the scheme and installation work has been completed in 3.25 lakh houses.

The PM says a small family, which consumes 250 units of electricity in a month, generates 100 units and sells it back to the grid will save ₹25,000 in a year. "Money saved is money earned." He says if the saved money is invested in the Public Provident Fund for 20 years, it would amount to over ₹10 lakh, which can be used for children's education and marriage.

The PM says that through the viability gap funding scheme for offshore wind energy projects worth over ₹7,000 crore, India is working towards producing 31,000 megawatts of hydropower in the coming times, with an outlay of ₹12,000 crore.

The PM says Gujarat was the first state in India to have its own “Solar Policy”. Words like green future, and net zero were not fancy words but are the needs and commitments of the Union and every state of India, he adds.

The PM says as a developing economy, India had a valid excuse to stay out of these commitments but did not choose that path. “Today's India is preparing a base not only for today but for the next thousand years.” He says India’s aim is not just to reach the top, but to prepare to sustain at the top. He says India had decided to build its future based on renewables like solar power, wind power, nuclear and hydropower, as there was a dearth of reserves of oil-gas.

The PM says the PM Suyra Ghar scheme is becoming a medium of employment generation and environment protection generating around 20 lakh jobs. The government aims to prepare 3 lakh youth as skilled manpower under this scheme. Out of these, one lakh youth will be Solar PV Technicians. “Every 3 kilowatts of solar electricity generated will prevent emission of 50-60 tonnes of carbon dioxide,” he says.

Talking about Ayodhya city, the PM says Ayodhya will soon become a model solar city as the efforts are on to light every house, every office, and every service of Ayodhya with solar power. The Centre has identified 17 such cities in India to be developed as solar cities, he says.

The PM says in the last decade, India generated 35% more electricity from nuclear energy as compared to before and India was striving to become a global leader in the field of green hydrogen. He underlined the launch of the Green Hydrogen Mission worth about ₹20,000 crore in this direction.