Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the Union Budget 2023-24 will help India establish as a lead player in the global green energy market and invited every stakeholder connected with the energy world to invest in the country.

Narendra Modi was addressing a post-Budget webinar on Green Growth, the first of a series of 12 post-Budget webinars organised by the government to seek ideas and suggestions for effective implementation of the initiatives announced in the Budget.

The prime minister said the world is currently diversifying renewable energy supply chains and the country’s emerging start-ups in the field could benefit in the environment from coming investments. He said India will be able to impact the world only to the extent it builds up its renewable energy resources, he said.

India has been the fastest when it comes to renewable energy capacity addition among major economies since 2014, Modi said. India’s track record showed its capability to achieve the objectives before time when it came to renewable energy resources. India achieved the target of 40 per cent share of non-fossil fuels in its installed electricity capacity nine years ahead of the target date.

He said India achieved the target of 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol five months before time. India was striving to achieve 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by 2025-26 instead of the scheduled 2030. The capacity of 500 GW will be achieved by 2030.

Recalling the launch of E20 fuel, the prime minister noted the government’s emphasis on biofuels and said that it has brought new opportunities for investors. He said the abundance of agri-waste should make investors consider setting up ethanol plants in every corner of the country.

“The potential of solar, wind and biogas in India is no less than any gold mine or oil field for our private sector,” the prime minister said.

The prime minister said that under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, India is moving with a target of production of 5 MMT green hydrogen. An allocation of Rs 19,000 crore has been made to incentivize the private sector in this field. He also referred to other opportunities such as electrolyzer manufacturing, green steel manufacturing and long-haul fuel cells.

The prime minister said that India has the potential of producing 10,000 million cubic metres of biogas from gobar (cow dung) and 1.5 lakh cubic meter gas which can contribute up to eight per cent to the city gas distribution in the country.

“Because of these possibilities, today the Gobardhan Yojana is an important component of India’s biofuel strategy. In this Budget, the government has announced plans to set up 500 new plants under the Gobardhan Yojana. These are not like old-fashioned plants. The government will spend Rs 10,000 crore on these modern plants,” he said. The private sector is getting attractive incentives for producing CBG from agri-waste and municipal solid waste, the prime minister said.

Throwing light on India’s vehicle scrapping policy, the prime minister said that it is a crucial part of the green growth strategy. He said that the government has made provisions of Rs 3,000 crore in this year’s budget to scrap around three lakh vehicles owned by Central and state governments that are older than 15 years including police vehicles, ambulances and buses.

“Vehicle Scrapping is going to become a huge market,” said the prime minister, following the principle of Reuse, Recycle and Recovery. He emphasised that it gives new strength to the circular economy and urged the youth of India to associate itself with the circular economy.

The prime minister said that India has to increase its battery storage capacity to 125-gigawatt hours in the next 6-7 years. He said the government has come out with a viability gap funding scheme in this budget to support the battery developers to achieve big goals in this capital-intensive sector.

Touching upon water-based transport, he said that India transports only five per cent of its cargo through its coastal route today whereas only two per cent of cargo is transported in India through inland waterways. He said the development of waterways in India will give rise to many opportunities for all stakeholders in this field.

The prime minister said that India has huge potential to lead the world when it comes to technology for Green Energy. While it will advance the cause of global good, it will generate Green Jobs in India. Provisions for green growth in the Budget will lay the foundation of a bright future for coming generations, he said.

“This budget is not only an opportunity, but it also contains the guarantee of our future security,” the prime minister said as he urged all stakeholders to act quickly to implement every provision of the budget. “The government stands with you and your suggestions,” the prime minister said.