Expressing concern over the lack of vision of the Union government behind India’s solar and renewable energy mission, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak on Monday said it is demotivating to see the efforts of the government despite India having so much potential in the sector.
Addressed the Upper House, Sandeep Pathak said, “Seeing the vision behind India’s solar mission and overall renewable energy mission, program implementation, I and countless people like me who believe in it, feel very sad and find it very demotivating.”
He said our country has 300 sunny days and in a country that has 300 sunny days, you can meet all your energy needs only through solar energy. But the problem is that we lack vision. “China is the country that has completed the journey from zero to hero in 10 to 15 years. China’s motivation in solar mission or renewable energy is growth, job creation. India’s motivation is to reduce CO2 emission. “This difference in vision defines the trajectory of your growth. Unless you believe that something has to happen from solar energy and renewable energy and this is the future, you cannot do anything big. Unless you have a burning desire in your heart that this has to be implemented in energy, you have to become all-capable and in the whole world, it is not going to happen,” he said.
Sandeep Pathak further said that India had set a target of 100 GW by 2022 which could not be achieved. Now the Government of India has set a target of 500 GW by 2030. This means that 50% of our country’s total energy requirement has to come from renewable energy. “How will this target be achieved? We will have to pay attention to our policies whether they are correct? If our goal in this field is to represent the whole world, only then will we be able to succeed. Right now, the government does not know where to focus. The government does not know whether it should focus on manufacturing or installation,” he said.
The Rajya Sabha MP said It is important to know where to apply the subsidy. First the government increased the import duty to increase manufacturing and reduced it a year later. This makes it clear that you do not know what to do. “Europe and America invested all their money on installation, they gave subsidy upon subsidy in Europe. China invested all its money in manufacturing, Europe and America invested in installation. All the Chinese goods were used in it, all the industries and companies of Europe and America went bankrupt, and China increased its growth, made multiple orders and created jobs. So, in this way your vision should be very clear,” he said.
Sandeep Pathak further said that China knew which sector to promote which made it profitable, America and Europe made a mistake in understanding this due to which they had to suffer huge losses. The work that we can do today, the things that we can make, we should increase the import duty on it so that it is made within the country and the things that we cannot do should be abandoned. The central government should know what our strengths are and the government should work in that area only.
“If we have to achieve our target by 2030, then we will need 300 billion US dollars but right now we are investing only 75 billion dollars in it. Today almost all the distribution companies of the country are running in loss because they did not invest in the technical sector. They did not pay attention to new technology; the government will also have to pay attention to promoting the technology of those companies. Distribution companies will have to be regulated,” he said.
Sandeep Pathak further said that today solar panels are installed but there are no skilled people to service them. Today, money is being invested in solar and wind but unless money is invested in lithium batteries, the solar and renewable industry cannot progress. You will have to focus on lithium. Today only 90 companies are working in the solar sector in India, whereas in China more than 2000 companies are engaged in this work. This sector cannot be taken forward on the strength of a single company.
The Rajya Sabha MP said today, only Adani’s company is investing the most in this sector. The government will have to make friends with other people apart from its two-three friends Ambani and Adani. The government will have to bring other companies forward, only then we can make our name shine in the world in the field of solar and renewable energy, he concluded.
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