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Clean energy powers local job growth in India

The Indian solar sector has the potential to generate around 1 million jobs if India achieves its targeted 100 GW of grid-connected solar power capacity by 2022 says this new analysis released by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Increasing energy access, clean energy development, and job creation are national priorities for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. As India faces threats to energy security and the impacts of climate change, renewable energy offers a critical solution. India's solar and wind programs have already catalysed remarkable growth. In just four years, India's solar market has grown more than a hundredfold, exceeding 3 GW of installed solar energy. In November, Modi announced that he was quintupling his goals for scaling up solar energy, increasing the target from 20 GW to 100 GW of grid-connected solar energy by 2022. With 250 GW of total installed energy currently and a need for much more power, scaling up solar and wind energy projects is a win-win strategy. New analysis released by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) shows that achieving Prime Minister Modi's recently announced 100 GW solar energy goals by 2022 could create as many as one million jobs. In addition, meeting India's target of 60 GW of wind energy capacity by 2022 would generate an additional 1, 83,500 full-time jobs. The NRDC-CEEW analysis demonstrates the staggering socio-economic impact that the projected growth of the renewable energy market can have across India; reviving local economies, boosting job creation, improving energy access especially for the poor and fighting climate change.

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