Religion should be put aside for the progress of the country, Union new and renewable energy minister Farooq Abdullah said today.
"If India has to grow, let us put religion on one side. Otherwise we will be fighting on the basis of religion," he said at the inauguration of the two-day SECON '09 to address the key issues pertaining to development and growth of the energy sector in the N-E region.
"India is for all of us whether you are a Muslim Kashmiri or not, whether Assamese or not", the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister asserted.
Stating that his ministry was giving a new direction for giving maximum thrust to renewable energy, he said German power comapny Tripton was setting up two 3000 mw each solar power projects in Gujarat and Rajasthan to produce 20,000 mw solar energy by 2020.
Speaking of the dangers of concentrating only on hydrocarbons ignoring water, wind and solar power as sources of energy, Abdullah warned, "I see a time coming when we won't have any hydrocarbon in the country."
"We have large industries producing solar plates but 85 per cent of them are exported as we cannot afford them. Prime minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi are eager that we must do something.
"So a Solar Mission has been started. I hope this Mission will benefit us and every ordinary individual. The army in Ladakh spends Rs 1200 crore annually for diesel. Solar power would be beneficial there", he added.
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