NEW DELHI: India plans to add 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy to its electricity grid by 2030 in a bid to clean up air in its cities and lessen the rapidly growing economy’s dependence on coal, the government said on Tuesday.

“By 2030 India plans to establish 500GW of Renewable Energy capacity,” Anand Kumar, senior official at India’s renewable energy ministry, said in a statement.

“India would have installed 175GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 without taking into account large hydro and 225GW including large hydro,” Kumar added.

India, the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has pledged to cut emissions and have clean energy account for at least 40 percent of its installed capacity by 2030, up from 21.4 per cent now, while looking to manage its energy appetite as its population becomes more prosperous.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2019