New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a new ‘National Deep Water Exploration Mission’ in his Independence Day speech on Friday. He was speaking about India’s attempts at building energy security, and how the new mission would explore the oceans and seabed for gas and energy resources.
“We’re dependent on so many countries for energy—petrol, diesel and gas. We spend lakhs of crores of rupees to buy it from other countries,” said the PM in his address. “We need to be atmanirbhar in our energy.”
He added that in the 11 years since his government came to power, solar energy has increased by 30 times. The PM was referring to India’s total installed capacity of solar power, which reached 105 GW earlier this year. He also lauded the country’s new and upcoming dams, focusing on how they would bring in clean hydropower.
“We spend so much money on getting energy from other countries, but if we’re not dependent on them, all that money can be used for the country’s youth, poor, and farmers,” said Modi from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
The PM’s speech highlighted India’s other clean energy missions such as the National Green Hydrogen Mission, and new initiatives in nuclear energy. India currently has 25 operational nuclear reactors in the country, and Modi said 10 of these are new and brought in during his tenure. He also said that his government has reformed the nuclear energy sector by opening it up to private players, a decision taken in March this year.
“By 2047, which is the Viksit Bharat goal, we will increase nuclear energy capacity by more than 10 times,” the PM declared.
Modi also said that India achieved its 2030 goal of 50 percent clean energy installed capacity five years in advance by 2025. He lauded the country’s commitment to acting against global warming.
Deep water mission, critical minerals
In a bid towards development, PM Modi said the country is moving towards the deep ocean and will launch the National Deep Water Exploration Mission. The Mission comes at an opportune time, as the National Institute of Ocean Technology on Thursday announced that two of its engineers became the first Indians ever to travel 5000 m underwater in the Atlantic Ocean.
Apart from the Deep Water mission, Modi also spoke about the world’s growing awareness of critical minerals. For India, he said, critical minerals are essential in every sector, from energy, industry, defence to technology. He spoke briefly about the work being carried out in the sector.
“The National Critical Minerals Mission is exploring more than 1200 sites, and we’re soon moving towards self-reliance in this sector too,” said the PM.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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