Modi Wants to see India as Solar Power Battery Hub

By Ayush Verma/ Updated On Fri, Sep 6th, 2019

Amid his thrust on renewable energy, PM Modi recently said that he wonders whether India could become a hub of solar power battery manufacturing

Modi India Solar Battery Hub

Amid his thrust on renewable energy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said that he wonders whether India could become a hub of solar power battery manufacturing, which can play a major role in the country’s march towards clean energy.

Responding to a question when asked for his comments on the global challenge of climate change, the PM gave the example of mobile phones, citing that their popularity increased more and more as the size of their batteries decreased.

Modi was speaking at Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed and Mongolian President Kjhaltmaagin Battulga.

He said India, as part of its aspiration to generate 175 GW of clean energy by 2022, is focusing on solar power in a big way. Expressing confidence that India will achieve the target of 175 GW of renewable energy, the Prime Minister said that he wants to see whether India could become a hub of solar power battery manufacturing and that he has invited companies dealing in the field to discuss the matter further.

He said if solar power was used for cooking in the country, there was scope for 250 million batteries, which in turn could benefit the electric vehicle market through cross-subsidy.

In May, we had reported that the Indian renewable industry had given a pass certificate to the five years under Modi government rule with 78 percent of the respondents (in a survey of CEOs of the industry) feeling that this government has set in motion the industry growth and transition by increasing the renewable target to 175 GW.

Despite policy reversals and various other operational challenges faced by the industry, a bulk of the respondents (73 percent) were optimistic about its growth prospects, the survey, conducted by consultancy firm Bridge to India, finds.