French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will in December share their sunshine moment in India to formalise the International Solar Alliance(ISA), giving a boost to RE-Invest 2017, the bi-annual global investor conference, where New Delhi is expected to leverage its leadership position in green energy for investments.
Macron will be in Delhi from December 8 to 10 and hold official talks with PM Modi, France’s ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said on Thursday. This will be the second meeting between the two leaders who had exchanged notes during Modi’s visit to Paris in June.
The two leaders will adopt the legal instrument for the ISA, an idea mooted by PM Modi for bringing sunshine countries on a common platform for promoting a vibrant market for solar power. It has the backing of around 121 countries rich in solar radiation to tackle energy issues and was launched in 2015 by PM Modi and then French President Francois Hollande in the presence of former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
France is India’s 9th largest investment partner. It is also a key partner for India in areas such as defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways.
India has established a leadership position in renewable energy, setting a target of 175 GW (giga watt) green energy capacity by 2022 and wants to meet 40% of its energy requirement by 2030. The country currently boasts of over 57 GW renewable energy capacity.
“I don’t see an opportunity as big as it is here. It also makes economic sense. Solar bids yielded tariff of 3.5-4 cents per unit (Rs 2.44),” Singh said and added that prices of equipment would fall further with expanding capacity for manufacturing solar cells and modules.