Green in focus in $2.3 trillion India plan

India will spend $2.3 trillion to boost its energy sector by 2030 by improving energy efficiency and using clean technology to help Asia's third largest economy balance growth and environmental aims.                                            
 

While India will need to keep burning cheaper fossil fuel to expand the reach of electricity to half of its one-billion-plus population without power, relying on conventional energy alone would be unsustainable as reserves deplete and costs rise.                 

And being the world's third-worst carbon emitter only makes it imperative to shift to a greener economy, BK Chaturvedi, a member of Planning Commission that charts India's growth path, told a Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit.

"We should develop this in the context of a two-pronged strategy: The first is improving energy efficiency, and the second is changing the mix of the energy which we consume," Chaturvedi said.                                            
 

He said India plans to spend $2.3 trillion on the energy sector by 2030, which will include a substantial burden for expanding the country's energy basket to include green sources such as solar, wind and nuclear power.                                           

"Some of it will be towards energy consumption, but a lot of it will go towards improving energy efficiency and improving the composition of energy," Chaturvedi, a former top civil servant, said. "This cost will have to be borne by the economy."                     
 

He did not mention what portion of the amount would be spent on making the shift to a green economy in the next two decades.