Expressing concern over import of coal despite being surplus in the dry fuel, Union Minister Piyush Goyal today said Coal India has set a target to replace about 15 MT of imported coal with indigenous fuel in next six months.
While addressing a media event, Minister of State for Coal said this is because the power plants have been designed not to function on indigenous coal.
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He urged everyone to come up with new ideas for finding a sustainable solution to this challenge. Talking about power decentralisation initiatives, the Minister said apart from shifting to renewable energy, focus is on distributed energy production, where consumers themselves can start generating power.
“In fact, the rooftop solar power programme will be expanded from 300 MW today to 40,000 MW in the next six years. It will not only provide energy security but will also give support to thousands of people living in areas inaccessible to grid based power supply,” he said.
On the climate change menace, Goyal reiterated that India believes that fighting climate change is a global responsibility. But having said that, it is imperative that the world strives towards sustainable lifestyle.
Wasteful usage of energy is a big concern today, he said adding that, “we are very concerned to see how the developed world is going to respond to this challenge in terms of demand side management of their consumption.”
