India targets 20,000 MW from solar power; seeks MIT technology

New Delhi: India will aim to generate 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022 as part of its ambitious solar energy mission, prime minister Manmohan Singh announced here on Monday. The mission is the centrepiece of its plans to combat climate change through alternative means. The announcement comes even as the country makes an effort to seek smart technologies that will facilitate the achievement of such ambitious plans.   

Launching the mission, the prime minister said: "The target of 20,000 MW of solar generating capacity by the end of the 13th Five Year Plan (2018-2022) is no doubt an ambitious target. But I do sincerely believe that the target is doable and that we should work single-mindedly to achieve it as a priority national endeavour." 

Meanwhile, the government has initiated talks with the US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to use its prototype 1 MW-capacity rooftop storage battery to meet the country's growing energy demand and its ambitious solar energy plans.

The 1 MW rooftop storage batteries will come in handy in supplying electricity to homes, offices and villages across the country.

"We are in discussion with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for a partnership to install the 1 MW rooftop storage battery it has developed recently," power secretary HS Brahma said.

The union ministry of power will try and develop the prototype storage battery into a commercial product. This, it hopes to achieve, through a tie-up with MIT under the Indo-US Science & Technology Forum.