The Government of India has set an ambitious target of generating 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022. According to the government’s solar mission plan, 20 million rural households will be provided solar lighting. It also aims to produce 20 million sq m of solar thermal area. A target of 800 MW has been fixed for the current year. The next goal is to meet the target of 1100 MW, set for the first phase of the 10-year period. Solar power plants will be allocated through a competitive bidding procedure, which has already brought down the tariff by an ‘astonishing 30 per cent’.
The government has plans to produce power from rice husk as well, and pilot projects are going on quite successfully. From a mere 2.5 per cent of the total energy production in 2002, the share of renewable energy has risen to 26 per cent by the third year of the 11th Five Year Plan.
