Environment and Forests Minister, Jairam Ramesh stated that India will have at least 6,000 MW of installed solar power capacity by 2017, bulk of which will be put up by the private sector.

However, he said that the Jawarharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, launched in the national capital has planned 20,000 MW of solar energy by 2022.

It also intends to drive down costs through a rapid scale-up of capacity.

Meanwhile, he said that in the next two-years, they are not going to be seeing huge amounts of capacity but by the end of the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2017), he expect to see at least 5,000-6,000 MW of capacity.

This is higher than the target of 4,000 MW of solar power by 2017 envisaged in the solar mission document.

In addition, he also said that they want to replicate the mobile telephony revolution in solar energy till the cost of solar energy continues to fall very drastically.

Moreover, the government will create necessary environment to attract project developers to invest in research and domestic manufacturing of solar power equipment.

India is endowed with vast solar energy potential where about 5,000 trillion kWh (kilowatt-hour) per year energy is incident over India's land area with most parts receiving 4-7 kWh per sq metre per day.

Therefore, both technology routes for conversion of solar radiation into heat and electricity, namely, solar thermal and solar photovoltaics, can effectively be harnessed providing huge scalability for solar power in India.

In the meantime, the government's initiatives in the sector will benefit companies like Tata BP Solar, Reliance Solar and Moser Baer Photo Voltaic Ltd by unlocking the huge potential in renewable energy.

Engineering and equipment firms like Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd and Lanco would also be indirectly benefited.

Apart from moving toward a greener economy, India's ambitious solar programme will also give the country a better bargaining power in climate talks on the global stage.

On the other hand, the BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) will meet in New Delhi on January 23 and 24 to take forward talks on climate change and work out a coordinated approach post-Copenhagen, which met a disappointing end in December 2009.

Previously, as 11 electricity generation projects received less dry fuel in November, coal shortage continued to hit the power sector.

Power projects in the western and the eastern belt were the worst sufferers of insufficient supply of the fuel which in turn lead to critical coal stock position at the generating stations.

However, earlier, the Central Government drew out an ambitious investment programme in order to expand the power sector in the North East States with an investment of around Rs. 37,400 crore.

The plan includes setting up of 5,350 MW power projects by 2016 to bring the North-East States into the national mainstream of developmental activities.

Previously, the government stated that it would invite bids for 2 ultra mega power projects in Orissa and Tamil Nadu by next month.

Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde stated that 4 UMPPs (ultra mega power projects) have been awarded, 2 more are in the pipeline where one is in Orissa and another one in Tamil Nadu.

By January 15 the Request for Qualifications for two UMPPs in Orissa and Tamil Nadu would be issued while it is also said that the empowered Group of Ministers (eGOM) on the UMPPs would meet shortly to decide the future course of action.

Meanwhile, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde threatened to take action against companies that do not start work on captive mines within 2 years of allotment and said that the coal block might be taken back by the government.

When asked about the status of captive coal block allotted to NTPC, citing the international benchmark (7 to 8 years) of mining from such blocks, he said that NTPC's mining target is not behind schedule.

In addition, with an aim of setting up 20,000 MW grid solar power and 2,000 MW off-grid solar power by 2022, the Government stated that it has approved the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.

The mission also aims to develop solar technologies for making solar power competitive to conventional grid power and install 20 million square metre solar thermal collective areas by 2022.

On the other hand, the Power Ministry revised upwards its coal import target for the current fiscal to 28 million tonnes (MT) from 25 MT envisaged earlier, due to the shortage of supply of coal from domestic sources.

The ministry had plans to double the import quantity in the next fiscal while the coal import target for the current fiscal is now 28 MT and 53 MT for fiscal 2010-11.

Further, previously, in order to benefit end consumers by way of lower tariff, Power Secretary H S Brahma stated that the Ministry would approach the Finance Ministry for abolition of service tax on power transmission.

Moreover, India is ready to launch its Solar Mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, with plans to generate 1,000 mw of power by 2013.

The Ministry of Power is an Indian government ministry. The Minister of Power holds cabinet rank as a member of the Council of Ministers. The current minister is Sushilkumar Shinde.

The ministry is charged with overseeing electricity production and infrastructure development, including generation, transmission, and delivery, as well as maintenance projects. India faces challenges in electrical supply and delivery, and is often unable to meet demand, even in very large cities.