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Highlighting India's historic clean energy expansion, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said that India has recorded its highest-ever addition of non-fossil capacity in the current financial year at 31.25 GW, including 24.28 GW of solar.
Speaking at the Global Energy Leaders' Summit 2025 in Puri, Odisha, the Minister also announced a 1.5 lakh rooftop solar ULA model for Odisha, designed to benefit and empower 7-8 lakh people across the State. After taking nearly 70 years to reach 1 TW of renewable energy capacity in 2022, the world achieved 2 TW by 2024, adding the second terawatt in just two years, the Minister said. India is a key driver of this explosive global surge in renewable energy. In the last 11 years, the country's solar capacity has grown from 2.8 GW to around 130 GW, a rise of more than 4,500 per cent. Between 2022 and 2024 alone, India contributed 46 GW to global solar additions, becoming the third-largest contributor. The Minister noted that India holds the world's fifth-largest coal reserves and is the second-largest consumer of coal. He said that even with this abundance, India is steadily balancing coal with renewable energy as the transition gathers pace. With global mechanisms now shaping industrial competitiveness, he said India's shift towards renewable energy has become even more urgent and strategically important. Highlighting major new initiatives for Odisha, the Minister announced the approval of a consumer-owned Utility-Led Aggregation (ULA) model under PM Surya Ghar for installing 1.5 lakh rooftop solar systems of 1 kW each in the State. This will benefit nearly 7-8 lakhs of people, especially from economically weaker households in Odisha. The Minister noted that Odisha is already demonstrating strong clean energy adoption. With over 3.1 GW of installed renewable capacity, clean energy now accounts for more than 34 percent of the State's total installed power capacity. Under PM Surya Ghar Yojana, 1.6 lakh households have applied for rooftop solar, over 23,000 installations have been completed, and more than 19,200 families have received subsidies exceeding Rs 147 crore directly into their bank accounts. Joshi underscored that the overall ecosystem created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ease of doing business, investor confidence, infrastructure, demand-driven schemes and strong Centre-State cooperation, has driven India's renewable energy expansion. The Minister expressed confidence that the coming years will belong to Odisha, praising the strong leadership of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and the people of the State for advancing renewable energy and green technology. (ANI)
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