Government sees USD 250 billion investment in energy sector: Piyush Goyal

Efforts are also being made to increase coal production, strengthen electricity transmission network and get back gas- based power plants on stream, said Goyal, who also holds portfolios of Coal and New and Renewable Energy Ministries.
  
The investments, totalling USD 250 billion for power generation, coal mining as well as electricity distribution and transmission sectors, would help the government increase power generation and ensure electricity supplies to all households in the country by 2019, Goyal said.
  
Speaking at the India Economic Summit, organised here by Geneva-based World Economic Forum and Indian industry chamber CII, Goyal said that India's total power consumption would double to 2 trillion units by 2019 and the majority of investments would come from the private sector although the government would also invest more.
  
The government is also pushing ahead with ambitious plans for the renewable sector, especially solar energy, where the generation capacity is to be increased to 1,00,000 MW by 2022, he added.
  
"We are expecting around USD 250 billion investments in the next four to five years... About USD 100 billion will be in the renewable energy," Goyal said.
  
The country's electricity transmission segment is anticipated to see an investment of around USD 50 billion during this period, he added.
  
The government is sincere in its efforts and "will protect investments", the Minister said.
  
To meet the increasing electricity generation requirements, Goyal said, Coal India is expected to double its production to around one billion tonnes by 2019.
  
The private sector is also expected to play an increasing role in the coal sector and an ordinance issued recently by the government addresses many of the issues, he said.

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"There should be justice for the families of the two teenage girls and for all the women and girls from lower caste communities who are targeted and raped in rural India. Violence against women is not a women’s issue, it’s a human rights issue," Resident Coordinator of UN system in India Lise Grande said.

UN Chief Ban Ki-moon too had called the recent incidents of violence towards women in India and Pakistan "appalling".

"In recent days we have also seen other tragic incidents in which women have been the targets of appalling violence – from Pakistan to India to California and Nigeria. The world will never find true peace and prosperity if half the population face discrimination and exploitation," Ban had said in remarks made to reporters in Toronto last week.

The UN system in India said ending violence against women and girls is a fundamental goal of the world body and assured its support to people across the country to do what it takes to ensure that every woman and every girl can live safely and with dignity everywhere.

"Every girl and woman should be able to live safely, feel protected and grow up free of violence," UN Women's Representative in India Rebecca Tavares said.

"Amongst the many actions that need to be taken, the UN encourages the speedier application of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, including the establishment of the one-stop crisis centres. The justice system is key to addressing the problem," Tavares said.

Grande noted that many "progressive reforms and changes" have been put in place following the brutal gang-rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi in December 2013 but stressed the need for implementing the laws meant for the protection of girls and women.

"But having the laws in place are only one part of the solution – their implementation also matters as does changing mind-sets. Violence against women and girls is preventable, not inevitable. Sustained implementation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012 and the setting up of Special Courts and child friendly procedures for victims under 18 years of age are also key priorities," Grande added.

The latest brutal act of violence against the girls in UP also highlights the dangers girls and women all over India are exposed to due to the lack of toilets.

UNICEF's Representative to India Louis-Georges Arsenault said around 65 percent of rural population in India defecates in the open and women and girls are expected to go out at
night. "This does not only threaten their dignity, but their safety as well," Arsenault said.

Last week, UN had described as a ‘horrendous crime’ and strongly condemned the incident and stressed that all citizens should be protected by the law.

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