India approves $19bn for renewable energy programme

India’s cabinet has approved a $19.42 billion renewable energy programme to help improve existing grids and add storage, the country’s information minister said on Wednesday.

A 1.36 trillion rupees scheme will strengthen the country’s transmission system within states to enable evacuation of up to 135 Gigawatt (GW) of clean energy, the government said in a statement.

The funding approval comes as India struggles to ramp up its transmission network in tandem with the clean energy capacity being added every month.

India also announced a 500 billion rupees incentive scheme for installation of 50 gigawatt-hours of battery energy storage systems as the country lacks adequate storage to save the clean energy generated during the day.

The incentives come as India targets raising its non-fossil fuel based power capacity to 500 GW by 2030 from 304 GW at present.