CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -The Government of India has set itself a target of 100 GW of solar power by 2022, of which 60 GW is to come from utilities and 40 GW from rooftop solar installations. While the 60 GW target seems achievable, the country is lagging behind on the target set for rooftop solar.

Detailed explanation-2: -India added 13 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity in the calendar year (CY) 2022, a 27 per cent increase year-on-year (y-o-y) compared to 10.2 GW installed in CY 2021, it added. The country’s cumulative installed solar capacity now stands at 63 GW, the report said.

Detailed explanation-3: -The target, set in 2015, was 175 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity to be set up in the country by the year 2022. This included 100 gigawatt from solar power, 60 gigawatt from wind power, 10 gigawatt from bio-power and 5 gigawatt from small hydro power. India has achieved 119 gigawatt.

Detailed explanation-4: -India’s plan to install 500 GW (gigawatt) of renewable energy capacity by 2030 will involve an investment of at least ₹2.44 lakh crore or ₹2.44 trillion, according to a committee constituted by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

Detailed explanation-5: -The program was inaugurated as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 11 January 2010 with a target of 20 GW by 2022. This was later increased to 100 GW by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2015 Union budget of India.