Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced on Saturday India’s plans to increase its renewable energy generation capacity from 34 GW to 175 GW by 2022. The plans call for a combined capacity 100 GW of photovoltaic energy, 60 GW of wind power, 10 GW of biomass and 5 GW of hydro projects.
The goal seems ambitious: in early 2014, India had 249 gigawatts of installed electricity generation capacity, 59% of which came from coal-powered plants. However, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed a commitment to bring 24-hour access to electricity and clean water and an indoor toilet to every Indian household by the 75th anniversary of India’s independence in 2022. (About one-third of India’s rural population still lacks access to electricity.)