Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's remarks at the Rajiv Gandhi Renewable Energy Day function

Respected Soniaji,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We meet here once again to pay tribute to the memory of one of India's truly far-sighted and humane leaders. We commemorate today the memory of Rajivji who will be remembered by posterity and history as one of the principle architects of a new India. Just as we will always remember Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and the leaders of our freedom movement as the architects of Free India, we will remember Indiraji and Rajivji as the architects of the India of the 21st Century. In the closing decades of the last century they laid the foundation for the next. When the world today begins to recognise us as a "major power" of the 21st century it does so because the initiatives that Indiraji and Rajivji took are beginning to bear fruit.

India and the world will always recall with love and affection the contribution of Rajivji to the revitalization of our democracy, especially at the grassroots level, and to our ability to ride the new wave of cyber technology. I salute the memory of our beloved leader.

I am happy that we have chosen to commemorate this day as the Renewable Energy Day. For the science and technology of renewable energy combines an appreciation of the needs of the people and an understanding of the latest developments in the field of energy. Several non-conventional energy sources fall in the domain of high technology. The immediate need is to take stock of what we have achieved and compare it with the 'state-of-the art' technology available in the world. The gap between the two should be bridged in the shortest possible time. India has the capability to be a world leader in renewable energy.

I draw your attention to the Independence Day Address of our respected Rashtrapathiji wherein he emphasized the critical importance of energy security for our country. Given our resources and our developmental aspirations, we have no other option than to tap every known source of energy. Nature has not blessed us with an abundance of non-renewable energy resources. But nature has blessed us with a people that are creative and enterprising. If we invest in the capabilities of our people, our brain power can make up for the gap in our natural resource availability. We must deploy this brain power in tapping renewable energy. Our Government is committed to developing nuclear energy, and our Rashtrapathiji has spoken at length on the importance of this for our energy security. I add my weight to his views.

Rashtrapathiji also emphasized the importance of renewable energy and here too I agree with him. The National Common Minimum Programme has made a commitment to develop our renewable energy potential. Our Government has launched the Rajiv Gandhi Vidyutikaran Yojana and a programme called "Bharat Nirman." These programmes commit us to complete rural electrification within the next 5 years. The success of these programmes depends on our ability to combine investments in power generation through thermal, hydro and nuclear energy sources with investments in renewable energy. We would like to see diesel replaced by bio-fuels in agricultural pump-sets and tractors. For cooking, lighting and motive power we must tap a variety of bio-energy technologies including the hi-tech biomass gasification route. I also urge the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources to accelerate the development and deployment of frontier technologies like hydrogen and fuel cells.

Investment in new technologies is one challenge, and we will take it up. However, an even bigger challenge is to create public awareness about the cost of various sources of energy and the need to conserve energy. The economic pricing of energy is one way in which we can and must address this challenge. As I said in my Independence Day address, excepting for the poorest sections of society, giving electricity free of cost to other sections will worsen the financial condition of our electric utilities. We need to get used to paying a reasonable price for electricity just as we do for petroleum products. Through this, we can ensure supply of electricity in the right quantity, at the right time and of right quality.

However, there is a parallel effort we must make in creating public awareness with regard to energy conservation. The purpose of the Rajiv Gandhi Akshaya Urja Diwas is in fact to create such public awareness. The involvment of millions of school children is essential. An aware child creates an aware household. An aware household can create an aware community. An aware community creates an aware Nation. The child is our starting point, the Nation the beneficiary. I have found from my own experience that children are these days shaping the thinking of their elders. I am sure the Rajiv Gandhi Akshay Urja Diwas programmes will create awareness among the youth of our country about the importance of energy security and what each one of us can do to promote it. This campaign is an investment in the welfare and prosperity of our posterity.

I wish your endeavors all success. May your path be blessed.