Why in news:

• Rajasthan has topped in installed capacity of solar energy in India with 7737.95MW as per the state-wise report released by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• The state has added a solar installed capacity of 2348.47MW in 2021 within eight months.

Key Points:

• Karnataka comes second with 7469.01 MW, followed by Gujarat 5708MW, Tamil Nadu 4675MW and Andhra Pradesh 4380MW.
• It is important to note here that the state has made rapid progress from its second position in December 2020 with 5389.48 MW.
• Despite Covid-19 situations in 2020-2021, the state has been advancing in solar energy and has made a record by adding a new solar installed capacity of 2348.47 MW and nearly ?10,000 crore investments within just eight months in 2021.
• Rajasthan’s Solar Energy Policy 2019 has been beneficial to the solar sector investors.
• Additionally, Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme (RIPS) scheme to promote investment in the state has driven the growth of the overall investment in the renewable energy sector in the state.
• In fact, in 2021, the state had approved the customized investment proposals totalling 34,200 MW of Adani, Renew Power, JSW Solar, Greenko in the renewal energy, of which, majority of them are in solar energy clubbed with wind and hydroelectric energy.

Huge potential to harness

• Rajasthan with vast tracts of barren land is now leading the green energy revolution in India.
• Rajasthan’s solar generation potential has been assessed at 142 GW.
• The state government plans to systematically harness this potential and has set for itself an ambitious target of 30 GW capacity by 2024-25, which will transform the energy scape of the state and the country.
• With expected Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPP) projects, international centricity of climate change policies and zero carbon emission policies, it is assumed that Rajasthan will become the centre of attraction in the Asian continent for investments in the renewable energy sector.
• Rajasthan has ample barren land and it covers about 60 per cent share of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) which is rapidly growing.
• As per the government’s stand, the state’s ease of doing business and policy framework has become a model with this milestone in the solar energy sector.
• For the ease of doing business, Rajasthan has been constantly innovating the processes and notably, the state has achieved the place among the top states in the country in 2019 with an implementation score of 98.39%.