India has emerged as a leader in the fight against climate change and ensured a balance between development and conservation, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Thursday.
He said India achieved the target of 40 per cent of its installed electricity generation capacity being from non-fossil energy sources nine years ahead of schedule. As part of its updated nationally determined contributions or national plans to fight climate change, India now stands committed to achieving about 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
With an installed renewable energy capacity of 175.74 Giga Watts (including large hydro), which is about 42.6 per cent of the country's total capacity (as on March 2023), India stands fourth in the world, the minister said.
"Its installed renewable energy capacity has increased by 396 per cent in the last nine years," Yadav told a press conference where he listed the achievements of his ministry in the nine years of the Modi government.
India's installed solar energy capacity has increased 25.6 times in the last nine years, and stands at 67 GW as of March 2023. The country's forest cover has expanded from 6.98 lakh square kilometers to 7.14 lakh square kilometers, while the mangrove cover has grown from 4,663 square kilometers to 4,992 square kilometers.
The population of tigers has risen from 2,226 to 3,167, and the number of Asiatic lions has increased from 523 to 674, the minister said, adding the leopard population has also grown from 7,090 to 12,852, and the count of one-horned rhinoceros has risen from 2,600 to 3,000.
