RE sector has potential to employ 10 lakh individuals by 2030: IREDA

The country's renewable energy sector has the potential to employ 10 lakh individuals by 2030, IREDA Chairman & Managing Director Pradip Kumar Das said on Tuesday.

''India's Renewable Energy (RE) sector could potentially employ around 10 lakh people by 2030, which would be ten times more than the existing workforce of an estimated 1.1 lakh employed by the sector,'' he said delivering the keynote address at an event on Renewable Energy Management for Cooperatives.

More than 90 percent of RE projects have come up in rural areas, resulting in the development of the rural economy, he said in a statement.

The program is being organized by the Centre for International Cooperation and Training in Agriculture Banking (CICTAB) under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Cooperation at VAMINICOM, Pune, Maharashtra.

Das stressed on the need to enhance the capabilities of cooperative groups to understand the effects of climate change and environmental degradation, for them to play an important role in making India green through RE.

He also highlighted several initiatives taken by the IREDA to boost the waste-to-energy segment.

For waste-to-energy projects, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has raised the exposure limit to 70 percent of the project cost.

He also highlighted that farmers are benefiting from the PM-KUSUM scheme as part of a major initiative towards making 'Annadata' also an 'Urjadata'.

The scheme aims to provide energy and water security to farmers, enhance their income, de-dieselize the farm sector and reduce environmental pollution. It is one of the largest initiatives in the world to provide clean energy to more than 35 lakh farmers by solarising their agriculture pumps.

The scheme is likely to generate employment opportunities equivalent to 7.55 lakh job years for skilled and unskilled workers.

In his closing remarks, Das said e-mobility, green hydrogen, and offshore wind are expected to be game-changers in the clean energy transition in the country in the next 5-7 years.