STORY: Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday (February 10) called for harnessing solar energy after inaugurating first phase of a project at his official residence in New Delhi that will produce nearly 670 kilowatt (KW) of power.
Mukherjee said it was important for India to turn to renewable source of energy, as it has signed the Paris Climate Change Agreement to generate at least 40% of its electricity from non-fossil sources by 2030.
“This is the future order, which we are starting today and our ambition is to produce up to 100 gigawatt of solar power by the year 2022,” said Mukherjee.
Mukherjee added that India had a tough balancing act to follow between energy needs and environment protection.
“On one hand our challenge is to give access to these 300 million people some sort of energy and on the other hand we can’t allow (destruction of climate), which have already cause enough harm,” Mukherjee added.
Seven rooftop solar panels have been installed on separate buildings in the President’s estate to meet the official requirements.
