The Planning Commission has proposed Ac­tion Plan for energy development in the Ninth Five Year Plan. In the area of cooking energy it is pro­posed to install 1.26 million biogas plants and 19.6 million improved wood stoves.

In solar energy, a solar photovoltaic deployment of 16 MW, which will include five lakh solar lanterns, 1.5 lakh home lighting systems, non-grid connected power plants and other systems of 1.1 MWp aggregate capacity and 5,000 water pumping systems and in solar ther­mal systems, 1.25 lakh sq. m of collectors for indus­trial systems and 1.25 lakh sq. m collector areas for domestic solar water heaters, are envisaged. An additional power generating capacity of about 2,000 MW from renewable is proposed.

A distinctive feature of the renewable energy programme, set in motion in 1997-98, is to identify a limited number of “Hi-focus” areas for intensive and concentrated deployment. The areas selected so far are : Leh and Kargil districts of J & K; western desert areas of Rajasthan, hill areas of Uttaranchal, the north-eastern states, the estuarine area of the Sunder bans in West Bengal, the two island com­plexes; the large tribal belts, including Bastar in Chhattisgarh and Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh and the Chota Nagpur plateau in Jharkhand.

At the end of the Eleventh Five Year Plan, in the year 2012, about 10 per cent of the total installed power generating capacity in the country is likely to be based on renewable. A comprehensive renewable energy policy and a separate legislation are being prepared for accelerated thrust to the development of this sector. The main objectives of the policy include: (i) augmentation of grid electricity supply;

ADVERTISEMENTS:

(ii) Energy for rural development; (iii) substitution of fossil fuels for decentralised applications; and (iv) reduction in environmental pollution and degrada­tion. The policy also addresses issues relating to institutional arrangements, financial resource mobi­lisation, promotion of industry and human resource development necessary for large-scale utilisation of renewable energy in the country (India 1999, p.410).