India power sector committed to low carbon growth: Minister

India's power minister Sushilkumar Shinde noted that his country is actively pursuing a low carbon growth strategy in power sector to address climate related issues.

Shinde made the statement during the International Energy Agency  ministerial meeting in Paris.  IEA meeting was attended by energy ministers of IEA member countries including USA, UK, France, Australia, Germany, Spain, Norway, Turkey, and EU and 8 partner countries including India, Russia, China, South Africa, Chille, Indonesia, Brazil, and Mexico.

The Power Minister explained that India is moving towards super critical technology in coal based thermal plants along with rapid induction of other clean coal technologies. He said that during the 13th Five Year Plan from 2017 to 2022, super critical technology would dominate the power scenario in India.

He further pointed out that India has taken policy initiatives for the development of renewable energy and the implementation of energy efficient improvement programmes. He said the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission , which is under implementation aims at adding 20,000 Mw solar capacity by 2022. He added that the SERCs are mandating a minimum RPO to the distribution utilities of their respective states.