Zee Media BUreau
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitely on Tuesday said India has been tardy in energy reforms.
He further said that the ongoing auction of coal mines will help in providing cheaper electricity to the common man. However, energy sector situation has been challenging in the past.
Jaitley said the government has been seeing encouraging results in coal sector and there is a great opportunity in India for manufacturing and infrastructure development.
To bridge the energy deficit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier on Sunday made a strong pitch for making renewable sources like solar and wind power affordable, even as he asserted that this green energy push was not to impress the world.
He had also said India is working on building a consortium of 50 countries with abundant solar radiation, to pool research and technological advancements to improve its accessibility to the poor and in the remote areas.
Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal had asked Jaitley to come out with "innovative financing models" in the upcoming Budget to help the sector attract overseas funds, while amending the inverted duty structure.
Jaitley will unveil the government's first full-fledged budget on February 28.
The country's renewable energy sector is looking at attracting USD 200 billion in investments.
The government aims to have 1,00,000 MW of installed solar power capacity by 2022 from the present around 3,000 MW. It is also looking at rooftop solar model.
