After 'Make In India' its 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'

After ‘Make in India‘, the Modi government has urged India to become ‘Atmanirbhar‘ ie. self-sufficient and self-reliant. Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes that solar energy will play a major role in making India ‘Atmanirbhar’.

While inaugurating the 750-MW solar power project in Rewa district via video conferencing, Mr. Modi said, “We won’t be able to use solar power entirely unless we have within the country improved solar panels, improved batteries and best quality storage. We need to work in this direction now.”

Source: The Hindu

PM Modi has been emphasizing the usage of renewable sources of energy given its green credentials. With a large power-consuming developing nation at hand, the Prime Minister leaves no stone unturned to encourage manufacturing in the country to serve its millions of people. It will not only make the industries independent and self-reliant but also generate huge employment opportunities for the jobless in the country. India is making a move to do away from imports which are not only expensive to the public exchequer but are also making the country very dependent upon other nations. The Prime Minister also stated that government organizations will buy only locally made solar cells and panels. Under the scheme, Rs 3 lakh crores will be provided as collateral-free automatic loans for businesses, including MSMEs. The government has further reformed governance for Ease of Doing Business in India.

The solar projects do represent a true picture on ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat‘. The Rewa solar project is Asia’s largest solar project to date. About 24% of its energy generated will be used by the Delhi Metro while Madhya Pradesh will use the rest. Other large projects in progress are in Neemuch, Shajapur, Chattarpur, and Omkareshwar. Large solar companies in India are asking the government to support manufacturing units located in SEZs since a majority of the manufacturing facilities are located in these zones. Given India’s ambitious solar target, the country’s reliance on Chinese imports had lately increased due to cheap component pricing and easy availability.  This led to the closure of some of the manufacturing units due to low capacity utilization. Now would be the time to revive the manufacturing sector in India.