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Celebrating 25 years of excellence in renewable energy

The role of renewable energy has been assuming increasing significance in recent times with the growing concern for the country’s energy security. Energy self-sufficiency was identified as the major driver for new and renewable energy in the country in the wake of the two oil shocks of the 1970 s. The sudden increase in the price of oil, uncertainties associated with its supply and adverse impact on the balance of payments position led to the establishment of CASE (commission for Additional Sources of Energy ) in the Department of Science and Technology in march 1981. The commission was charged with the responsibility of formulating policies and their implementation , programmes of the for developm
ent of new and renewable energy ,apart from coordinating and intensifying R&D in the sector. In 1982, a new department , that is, the DNES (Department of Non-conventional Energy Sources ) that incorporated CASE was created in the then Ministry of Energy . In 1992, DNES became the Ministry of Non- conventionl Energy Sources. In October 2006, the ministry was rechristened as the MNRE (ministry of New and Renewable energy ). Box 1 gives some major milestones through these 25 years.

Silver Jubilee celebrations

The MNRE (ministry of New and Renewable Energy ) celebrated its silver jubilee, the completion of 25 glorious years of its existence, in a function held on 22 November 2007. the Hon’ble president of India, smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil inaugurated the event. Other dignitaries present at the function included Dr shakeel Ahmed , union minister of state for communication and IT , Shri vilas muttemwar, union minister for New and Renewable Energy ,Shri V Subramanian Secretaery (posts) , as also diplomats, central and state government officials, and representatives of industry . Smt. Pratibha patil said that today as we aim for a 10 •/• growth rate, we must recognize the critical importance of energy security . we will need a new paradigm of energy security to address our development goals, which are environment friendly and lead to sustainable development. She further said that India is among the global leaders in the development and deployment of renewable energy technologies. Paying tribute to former prime mrime minister of India, late smt. Indira Gandhi , smt. Patil said that her vision was translated into vigorous action by shri Rajiv Gandhi to meet the increasing demands for energy .access to critical and promising clean, new,and renewable energy technologies to develping countries should be the key point in the global environmental agenda. She said that our endeavour is to make India leader in the new and renewable energy sector in the shortest possible time. All the people of the country ,in all the walks of life, should come together to promote the use of renewable energy as a national movement. Shri vilas muttemwar said that there is a need for maximum development of domestic energy supply options in the context of spiralling oil prices as also for diversfing energy sources. Thus, renewable energy remains important to the energy sector in India. He said that it is a very encouraging fact that new and renewable energy sources solar, wind, small hydro, and bio energy are making a significant contribution to the nation’s energy mix. These energy sources supplement conventional fossil fuel-based energy sources and also help in meeting the power needs in remote and rural areas of the country. This has been possible due to 25 years of sustained endeavours. He said that carbon free energy is new in global warming the installed grid interactive renewable power generation capacity has crossed 11 000 mw today, of which, 77 00 mw is from wind power. He was hopeful that during the Eleventh plan, the renewable power capacity addition will be to the tune of 14000 mw and will cover 10 000 villages.