States to meet 25% of their energy needs from renewable energy sources

States would need to meet a quarter of their energy demand from renewable energy (RE) sources under the new ‘Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO)’ mandate and increase it to 43 per cent by end of this decade. The new set of targets include solar, wind, hydro and also energy storage for the first time for states to mandatorily purchase.

The stringent targets come in the wake of India committing an ambitious 500 gigawatt (GW) of RE by 2030 at the Glasgow COP26 climate summit last year. Also, the draft Electricity Bill 2021, likely to be placed in the Parliament during this