India likely to spend Rs 65 lakh crore on power by 2030: Minister

India's Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal said that it is estimated that India will spend around Rs 65 lakh crore on the power sector in the next 15 years to meet its growing demands and providing clean, affordable and 24/7 electricity to its citizens He emphasized the need for technology transfer for efficient expansion of renewable power in India. While speaking at a Round table on Renewable Energy Challenges for Grid Integration at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia, Goyal said India can use Australian expertise in rooftop solar as almost a third of Australian homes in some states are using rooftop solar. Additionally, Australian expertise in scheduling and forecasting solar generation to enable grid integration would be welcomed by Indian companies. Goyal also advocated for utilizing Australian technologies for efficient renewable power and grid integration in India and technology transfer through strong educational and research collaboration between Australian (e.g. UNSW) and Indian organizations (like National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE). During discussion, Goyal stressed the need for Australian technology to be affordable. It is crucial for the prices of renewable energy to be comparable to coal based thermal power to be viable in India. He said that India is interested in benefitting farmers through usage of solar technologies to optimize gas usage for fertilizer production and recycling processes for rice husk technologies. The Minister also highlighted that in view of land availability challenges in India; renewable technologies which reduces land requirement would be welcome. He further said that cost challenges can be met through ‘Make in India’. This will help in achieving the ideal combination of Indian manpower and Australian innovation. Stating that India is witnessing a big expansion of renewable energy, Tarun Kapoor, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, said that the India was running the world’s largest renewable energy programme and was looking for technological expertise, operating experience and investments. This provided a huge opportunity for global firms to operate at a large scale and provide cost competitive solutions. He highlighted that by March 2016 itself, India would have bid out more than 18 GW of solar capacity thus helping it move rapidly towards the aim of setting up 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022. Faculty of the UNSW elaborated the achievements of their University especially in the pioneering research of more than four decades in renewable energy and stressed on their policy of easy access to their intellectual property. Prof. Darren Bagnall, school of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering mentioned that the UNSW had held till last year the world record for highest efficiency of solar energy conversion. He also threw light on current research in this field. The Roundtable is attended by Indian delegation consisting of officials of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Coal as well as officials from NTPC, Coal India Limited and other large renewable companies. From the Australian side it is attended by Senior Faculty of the UNSW and senior officials from the educational institutions, R&D organizations like CSIRO and corporates.