India has been consistent in their opposition to emission reductions during heated Copenhagen discussions. India points to their per capita emissions, which are lower than the main Western countries involved in the talks. India will not agree to emission reductions unless they are by per capita calculations, which is a method the United States and others are opposed to.
However, India has been speaking about increasing their renewable energy as a way to cut emissions. India announced this week that they will be investing heavily in solar power. The goal of the plan is to have 20 gigawatts of solar energy by the year 2022. Currently, India has 6 megawatts of solar power.
There is expected to be three phases to the program, which will result in upwards of $20 billion spent. The first phase is expected to cost $922 million. However, there is skepticism regarding India being able to increase their solar power so significantly.
Conventional electricity is a touch and go subject in India without even bringing solar power to the table. The government has indicated that their conventional electricity capacity increase will be twenty percent less than they said it would by 2012. In India, it is common for citizens to have on and off again electrical power.
Coal is the main driving force behind electricity in India and the main fuel for their power plants. The government subsidizes diesel, petroleum and kerosene. Experts agree that India will most likely have to subsidize solar energy as well in order to make it competitive in the country. Currently, solar power costs 2.5 times more than energy produced using coal in India.