India presidential candidate, Modi: ‘Use solar to empower people’

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

While inaugurating the 151MW Neemuch solar power plant in Madhya Pradesh, India, presidential candidate, Narendra Modi called for India to utilise solar energy to empower its citizens.

Modi, currently the chief minister of Gujarat, the leading solar capacity state and first state to introduce net metering, called for India to become energy self sufficient by using its own natural resources, such as solar, to provide its energy.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Modi is also the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (translates as ‘Common Man Party’), and is currently running for president in elections for the 16th Lok Sabha (parliament).

Modi reiterated at the inauguration, as part of his campaign in the upcoming elections, the use of solar energy generation to empower the citizens of India and mitigate corruption in the country.

He called for government focus on energy development, detailing the use of hydro in the Himalayas, for India to utilise its biomass potential and for wind and solar installations in open land resources. 

He also warned of the economic dangers of relying on policies to import coal.

On Modi’s official Facebook page he said the Neemuch solar power plant is “impressive” development, and mentioned his policy of “the seven pillars of energy hydro, thermal, gas, solar, wind, biomass and nuclear, can make India self reliant in energy sector”.

The Neemuch project was developed by Welspun Group. Spanning 800 acres and costing an estimated INR855 crore, construction began on the project eight months ago.

Now complete the project will power 600,000 houses, doubling the state of Madhya Pradesh’s installed solar capacity.

Madhya Pradesh’s state’s principal secretary for new and renewable energy, Shri Sudhi Ranjan Mohanty, plans 2,600MW by June 2015, to be generated through renewable sources. The solar target is for 1,200MW by 2015.

Read Next

May 1, 2025
US utility Alliant Energy has opened a 200MW solar facility in Linn County, Iowa, called Pleasant Creek Solar.
May 1, 2025
US tracker manufacturer FTC Solar has announced a 57.6% quarter-on-quarter increase in revenue in the first quarter of this year.
May 1, 2025
Independent power producer (IPP) Arevon Energy has begun construction of its 430MW solar PV project in the US state of Missouri.
May 1, 2025
Shanghai-listed solar manufacturer Canadian Solar has posted massively decreased profits in Q1 2025 amid “high trade barriers” and “severe supply-demand imbalances”.
May 1, 2025
The ESMC has called for a restriction of remote access to PV inverters in Europe from ‘high-risk’ manufacturers, mainly those in China.
Premium
May 1, 2025
April 2025 saw solar PV generation, both rooftop and utility-scale, decrease marginally month-on-month in Australia’s NEM by almost 11%.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Media Partners, Solar Media Events
May 7, 2025
Munich, Germany
Solar Media Events
May 21, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK