MNRE to Launch New Scheme To Boost Distributed Solar Energy: RK Singh

In his latest speech, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy RK Singh announced starting a new scheme to boost distributed renewable energy (DRE). He announced this during an event on DRE organised by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and Villgro Innovations Foundation’s Powering Livelihoods.

“We are developing a new DRE policy that can help them expand. We need to expand this product. RE is penetrating all major aspects of our lives, including education, industries, cooling or heating, and net zero buildings. But we need to maximize its potential. The way we tried exploiting the grid-scale solar, we need to focus on DRE too. Several entrepreneurs are now investing and expanding the use of DRE and boosting livelihood options across the country without government support,” he said. 

He added that although grid-scale solar has shown remarkable growth, the DRE sector needed the same pace. “We will, however, need large scale-manufacturing and standardizing distributed applications of RE to lower prices and expand the sector. We have seen the potential of grid-scale solar power; India will scale up distributed renewable energy applications for livelihoods. Just like we have a large programme on rooftop solar and solar irrigation, we will create a large programme for DRE livelihoods,” he said. 

He also boasted about the initiatives of his ministry and said that India was among the few countries in the world which achieved its Nationally Determined Commitments (NDC) before time. “We have promised to ensure that 40 percent of our total energy capacity would come from non-fossil fuel energy by 2030. However, we have already achieved 43 percent capacity addition through non-fossil fuel sources. We are now world leaders in energy. We have the highest network grid in the world, with 180,000 kilometers. Even during the Russia-Ukraine war, the power prices and growth of renewables continued,”

He also said that the government has planned to make DRE livelihood equipment affordable. “One aspect of this will be tying up with banks. If a family wants to own a solar dryer, they should be able to get financing from the banks – we will work towards it. Manufacturers and users of DRE for livelihoods are pioneers, and now the government will scale it up to the next level,” he added.

The minister also released two new reports by CEEW and Villgro, which show that clean technologies can impact 37 million livelihoods in India’s agriculture and textile sectors and translate into a market opportunity worth almost INR 4 lakh crore (about USD 50 billion). 

These reports also said that 70 percent of women and farmers using clean technology reported an income increase, typically by 35 percent. They use clean-energy products such as solar-powered silk reeling machines, multi-food processors, micro solar pumps, solar vertical fodder grow units, and others to enhance and diversify their income.