It is seen as another milestone in India’s major shift away from coal to other sources of power. The announcement is in line with Indian Energy Minster Piyush Goyal’s target of eliminating thermal coal imports into India, a policy designed to drive own the cost of electricity.
For 2016/17, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has set the highest ever targets for the clean power sector, 16.6 GW. Of this target, solar installations will make up 12 GW, wind at 4 GW, biomass at 400 MW, small-scale hydropower at 250 MW and waste-to-power at 10 MW.