India Calls for Faster Expansion of ISA at COP 25

Prakash Javadekar at the COP 25 summit has stressed that more and more countries should join the ISA and that there is a need to speed up this alliance

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar stressed on his point that more and more countries should join the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to reduce dependence on fossil fuels to meet their growing energy requirements, Speaking at a ministerial plenary on the sidelines of the 25th session of the Conference of Parties (COP 25) under the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Madrid, Javadekar said there was a need to speed up this alliance to trap solar energy in a big way.

“Four years ago in Paris, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande launched the ISA, it was a new beginning. Now, I can say that the four-year-old child is running fast, but it must run faster because the need of the hour is that we must tap solar in a big way,” the minister said. The minister’s statement was shared by the Union Environment Ministry.

Expressing contentment over 83 countries joining the ISA in just four years, Javadekar said, “When ISA was launched, the idea was that all those countries who get more solar energy as they fall between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn should come together to create the consumers’ own market.

“I must also congratulate you all as the ISA has aggregated demand from various countries on Solar Agriculture Pumps and has floated a tender in which four parties have submitted their bids. I am sure that the best deal is on the cards and they will get it soon,” he added.

Listing out the aggressive manner in which India has expanded its renewable energy mix, Javadekar pointed out that five years ago, India had just 3 GW of solar energy. “Today, we have 33 GW of solar energy. It is huge,” the ministry quoted him as saying.

The minister said India is going to achieve 100 GW of solar energy by 2022 i.e., in the next three years, it will add 67 GW more of solar energy. He also pointed at the sharp fall in the prices of solar energy due to enhancement of capacity, saying, “The prices (of Solar Energy) used to be Rs 20 per unit. Now, it is just 10 percent of it.”

Earlier in November, two new countries, Eritrea and Saint Kitts and Nevis, became the newest members of the ISA after signing the framework agreement.