Govt ties solar plans to global climate support

By Krittivas Mukherjee

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government issued solar power targets on Monday, with plans to boost ouptut from near zero to 20 gigawatts (GW) by 2022, but tied chances of the plan's success to availability of international finance and technology.

The announcement was made days before U.N. negotiations in Copenhagen for a global deal on climate change, deadlocked over levels of carbon emissions cuts to be taken by rich countries.

Talks are also stuck on financial and technological support to be given by rich countries to developing nations.

"India is making a very strong case for international support for its climate actions, but in the process it is also skirting its unilateral obligations," said Siddharth Pathak, Greenpeace's main climate campaigner in India.

"The Solar mission doesn't make it clear how much of the plan is to be carried out unilaterally and how much with international support."

A climate plan released last year identified renewable energy, like solar power, and energy efficiency as key elements. About 8 percent of India's total power mix is from renewables, though it is a leading provider of wind power technology.

Solar power is a key thrust and India has plans of generating 20 GW of solar power by 2022. That target would help India close the gap on solar front-runners like China and is part of a 30-year scheme initially estimated to cost $19 billion.