"Despite world oil prices falling from $115 a barrel in June to less than $50 this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen that we do not get distracted from the pursuit of the ultimate goal of having a fossil fuel-free economy. Already, solar energy has been successfully put to good use in Gujarat industries," Harsha Vardhan said, pointing out that the present international trend in solar power is to think in terms of gigawatts and not megawatts.
The minister cited successful utilisation of solar power generation in Germany where the government has even been encouraging house owners to rent out their rooftops so that more solar power can be harnessed. "A similar policy needs to be incorporated in our national policy," he added.
While explaining the cost involved in generation of solar power, Y S Chowdary, Union minister of state for science and technology, said that research is on to reduce capital cost of generation and increase efficiency in harnessing solar power in the country. "Previously, it used to take Rs 14 crore to generate one MW of solar power, but it has now come down to Rs 6 crore," he said.
The minister also listed out a few recent milestones in the science and technology arena such as licence for market clearance of a dose of indigenously manufactured Rotavirus vaccine and how introduction of mobile services for farmers (agro-meteorological services) and fishing zone advisory services for fishermen contributed Rs 50,000 crore and 34,000 crore to national GDP.
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