India’s renewable energy sector should create up to 2.4 million jobs by 2020, according to a report, which has been jointly commissioned by environmental group Greenpeace, the Global Wind Energy Council and the European Renewable Energy Council.
Currently, the sector employs 200,000 people, but this number could grow more than 14 times by 2030 with the right policies and investments in place, stated India Energy [R]evolution report.
By 2050, about 92 per cent of India’s energy infrastructure will be based on renewable energy sources. Renewable resources such as wind, solar thermal energy and photovoltaic, will comprise 74 per cent of electricity generation.
The study projected that the country will experience immediate market development, with high annual growth rates achieving renewable electricity share of 32 per cent already by 2020 and 62 per cent by 2030. Moreover, the installed capacity of renewable energy will reach 548 GW in 2030 and 1,356 by 2050.
Given that renewable resources have no fuel costs, India could save as much as 285 trillion Indian rupees ($ 5,500 billion) to 7.1 trillion Indian rupees ($ 138 billion) per year under the Energy [R]evolution scenario.
“Future of India’s growth lies with massive expansion and deployment of renewable energy technologies through key policy reforms and significant investments, without putting any negative impact on its pristine forest and dependent marginalized communities,” stressed Greenpeace.
