Govt mulls $1 billion private equity fund for renewable energy sector

New Delhi: The government is planning a 1 billion dollar private equity fund for renewable energy sector and it will be initially seeded by Government companies," said Power Minister Piyush Goyal, on Friday, while participating in a Talkathon programme organised by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The Minister said India has been a responsible user of fossil fuels and it is taxing carbon more than any other country in the world.

Goyal said economies of the west have moved their energy requirements to other countries and west needs to be more conscious about energy waste.The minister informed that India is aiming at ramp up renewable energy by five times, adding that the government is seeking to collect 4 billion dollars per year in three-four years for clean energy fund.

He said using LED bulbs alone would reduce peak load requirements by 22,000 Megawatt and in the coming three and half years, India is going to replace 770 million and 350 million streetlight with LED bulbs.Goyal said, "Energy Efficiency Programme of the government will save 40,000 crore rupees annually.

India is supportive of all the Research and Development efforts done globally for clean technology.

"Goyal said with falling prices and technological innovations, the government is confident of meeting 1.75 lakh Mega Watt of renewable energy targets by 2022.

He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would launch the International Solar Alliance on 30th of this month along with French President François Hollande.Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar on Friday said, "India is taking a leadership role in COP21 Paris and the summit will take forward the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

It is the moral responsibility of every nation in the world to ensure the future generations a healthy planet."Talkathon is an initiative that connects the virtual space with the physical world. Under the platform, participants in the social media space can post questions on Twitter, which will be answered by the guests in real-time.