Mathur Ritika Passi

Going off the grid in the village of Tinginaput, India
Off the grid, but on the top/UK DFID/Flickr/Creative Commons
in poverty. 15 Energy transitions to cleaner
sources of energy and more efficient fuel
sources lead to improved health and living
conditions. 16 This leads on to the second
target of SDG 7.
Target 7.2
Enabling access to energy for all is a key
driver of Indian energy policy, along with
plans to significantly increase renewable
energy capacity to 175 gigawatts (GW) 17 by
2022. India’s total installed power generation
capacity as of June 2015 stood at 275
GW. Coal accounts for 167 GW (61%),
while thermal power (coal, gas and diesel)
together make up 191 GW (70%). 18 Clearly,
India is highly dependent on fossil fuels
for its energy needs. Hydroelectric power,
too, contributes a significant percentage,
with a total installed capacity of just under
42 GW. 19 The total installed capacity of
grid-interactive renewable power is just under
36 GW, which consists of solar, wind,
biomass and small hydro. The renewable
energy component also includes nuclear
energy, although the installed capacity of
nuclear power is currently only 5.8 GW, a
mere 2.1% of the total capacity. 20
India’s total carbon emissions are also on
the rise, with an estimated 2.07 billion
tonnes of total greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions in 2013, an increase of 4.5%
over 2012 levels. Since 1990, Indian GHG
emissions have risen by nearly 200%. 21
Given the pressures of both increasing energy
demand and reducing carbon emissions,
it is clear that low-carbon sources of energy
have to play a key role in India’s future
energy mix. The Indian government has
acknowledged that fact and has set highly
ambitious targets to build 100 GW of solar
energy capacity by 2022 along with 60 GW
of wind power capacity.
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