Cost of Solar energy is less than that of conventional energy says Power Minister Shri Piyush Goyal – makes a strong plea for adopting solar in rural areas
On the ambitious program of replacing 770 million incandescent bulbs by LED bulbs, the Minister said till date more than 9 crore bulbs had been replaced and the company EESL(Energy Efficiency Services Ltd) is doing a phenomenal job replacing 7 lakh bulbs per day. This will result in a saving of 100 billion units every year and the consumer bills would come down cumulatively by Rs 40,000 crore and the Co2 emission will be down by 60 million tons/year. Shri Goyal said energy efficiency and clean energy have been important features of the program. The Minister said India produces hardly 2.5 percent of greenhouse gases but despite that the US is doing little to mitigate effects of climate change. He said we are taking steps not because of pressure from them but because of our consciousness in recognizing the value of the universe.
Senior economist Dr Vijay Kelkar, industrialist Baba Kalyani and members of Pune International Centre were present at the event.