In a country with 80,000 impoverished villages having no access to grid electricity, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid out an ambitious plans to make India a global leader in solar power by launching a government initiative to boost use of the solar technology. Solar can help secure India's energy independence and tackle climate change as well as offer new opportunities for industry in a country with a crippling shortage of power.
The National Solar Mission, launched in January, 2010 would "establish India as a global leader in solar energy" in the areas of power generation and technology production. "The rapid spread of solar lighting systems, solar water pumps and other solar power-based rural applications can change the face of our rural energy sector,"
The Solar Mission has the goal of increasing solar energy capacity exponentially to reach 20,000 megawatts for the year 2022, reducing reliance on fossil fuels. That amount would provide enough power for 20 million homes, with each receiving one kilowatt of power.
India currently produces just under nine megawatts of solar power, data from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) show. India produces more than 15,000 megawatts of power from all renewable sources, according to the MNRE, with more than 10,000 megawatts from wind power alone.
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