MNRE Clarifies December 2022 as Deadline for 175 GW Target

MNRE has clarified that the deadline for India to achieve its renewables target of 175 GW installed generational capacity is December 31, 2022.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has clarified via an official release that the deadline for India to achieve its renewables target of 175 GW installed generational capacity is December 31, 2022.

According to the notice issued by the MNRE, the clarification was made after the date for achieving the stated target was being mentioned differently in various sources, by the year 2022 or by the year 2021-22. The latter would have indicated March 31, 2022, as the deadline. Thus, the MNRE, for what its worth has assured itself of an additional nine months at least to achieve the target

Recently, less than 4 days after a CRISIL report was released which predicted India to miss out on its renewables target of 175 GW by nearly 42 percent, the MNRE has issued a strong rebuttal.

The detailed letter from the office of the MNRE Secretary Anand Kumar says that “the doubts are ill-founded and not reflective of the status on the ground and plans ahead. By the end of September 2019, India has installed more than 82,580 MW of renewable energy capacity with around 31,150 MW of capacity under various stages of installation. Thus, by the first quarter of 2021, India would have installed more than 1,13,000 MW of renewable power capacity.

This would constitute nearly 65 percent of the targeted capacity. Besides this, around 39,000 MW of renewable power capacity is at various stages of bidding which would be installed by September 2021, taking the percentage of installed capacity to over 87 percent of the targeted capacity. With only 23,000 MW of renewable power capacity left to bid, India is confident that the target of installing 1,75,000 MW of renewable power capacity will not only be met, but exceeded”.

The denial, worded in strong terms and with more than a little data, was a strong indicator of the importance the minister and his team clearly put to the numbers. Numbers that they continue to announce at every available forum, will be met.

The clarity on the deadline, along with the many steps the MNRE has indicated to achieve those targets, might revive belief that the intent remains strong.