The Financial Express
India is the fifth largest producer and consumer of electricity after the US, China, Japan and Russia. But our per capita consumption (957 kWh) is among the lowest. China’s is 4,000 kWh, while in developed countries it is close to 15,000 kWh. India needs faster economic growth for improving quality of life and increasing opportunities for development. As of May, 19,706 villages did not have access to power and about 700 million people use biomass as their primary energy resource for cooking. With such poor access to electricity, India needs to ensure a balance between electricity supply and reducing emissions. Harnessing clean energy through renewable sources is thus an essential requirement. Even as there was renewed focus on clean energy at the recent climate talks in Lima, many challenges deter expansion of renewable energy sources to meet the required goals.
