Renewable energy technology in India: Panacea for sustainable development

Energy is very essential for sustenance of life on this earth, without energy, life will come to a stands still. Perhaps after food, energy is the most important component for economic development of a country and for improving the quality of life of the people. Therefore, one of the most important tasks of the planning process is to ensure sharp increase in production of energy. In fact, the per capita energy consumption in India is still one of the lowest in the world. Furthermore, 80 percent of rural energy are being consumed by urban areas with only 20 percent of the population and rural areas consume 20 percent with 80 percent of the population (L.S. Srivastava 1995). The coming generation precedent challenges and opportunities between 1990 and 2030 the world population growth will be 3.7 billion, food production will need to double and industrial output and energy use will probably triple world-wide and increase fivefold in developing countries.(R.Karthikeyan 1996). Among the various infrastructures, energy plays a pivotal role since it is base for all other developments. Now a days the electric power is widely used in almost all sectors; industry, agriculture, transportation, domestic, rural, urban, of course no activity, no place is without power. But the rate of use of power may vary from sector to sector. India is endowed with a wealth of rich natural resources and sources of energy. Resources for power generation are unevenly dispersed across the country. This can be appropriately and optimally utilized to make available reliable supply of electricity to each and every household. Electricity is considered key driver for targeted 8 to 10 per cent economic growth of India. Electricity supply at globally competitive rates would also make economic activity in the country competitive in the globalized environment.