India solar power grid parity by 2019-20

Solar power in India will gain parity with conventional electricity only by 2019-20, says a report by KPMG. The implementation of an aggressive policy (with a target of 20,000 MW by 2032) could see solar power prices decline at a rate of 5-7 per cent annually over the next decade.

Certain states such as Rajasthan, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu reached grid parity earlier than others because of more favourable policies and sunnier weather, thereby redu­cing costs.
According to the Indian Solar Mission, introduced in 2009, solar power output by 2022 would be equivalent to one-eighth of India's current installed power base. The KPMG report said solar energy could contribute to about 7 per­cent of India's total power nee­ds and displace about 16,900 MW of conventional power by 2022, and with additional solar capacity, could cut India's total coal imports by 30 per cent by that year.

India is now the world's third greenhouse gas polluter after the United States and China, with a current per cap­ita emissions stand at 1.8 tonne, about a third of China's and less than a tenth of the United States'.