India woos Asean for investments in renewable energy

India is wooing Asean member countries for investments in renewable energy.

Foreign investors can set up renewable power projects on a build-own-operate basis with 100 per cent foreign direct investment, said Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Secretary Gireesh Pradhan.

Renewable energy, at some 26,000 MW installed capacity, represents about 12.5 percent of India's total installed power generation capacity.

"We aim to achieve about 55,000 MW of renewable power by 2017," he said when opening the two-day Asean-India Workshop on Cooperation in Renewable Energy here today.

India's renewable energy programme is primarily private sector-driven and offers significant investment and business opportunities.

Among others, India has over 1,000 MW of solar power capacity.

"Our aim for 2022 includes 20,000 MW of grid connected, 2,000 MW of off-grid solar power and connecting over 20 million rural households with solar home lighting," he added.

The workshop features eight sessions, including on trends in renewable energy technology transfer on wind, solar and biomass power, resource assessment techniques, renewable powered micro-grid rural electrification and development, off-grid renewable energy applications, and Asean-India cooperation in renewable energy.