The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, on Tuesday reviewed progress of key infrastructure sectors of power, renewable energy, petroleum and natural gas, coal, and mining. The review meeting, which lasted for over two hours, was attended by top officials from infrastructure-related Ministries, NITI Aayog, and PMO.
In course of the presentation made by CEO NITI Aayog, Shri Amitabh Kant, it was noted that the installed power generation capacity in India has risen to 344 GigaWatts. India's energy deficit, which stood at over 4 per cent in 2014, has shrunk to less than 1 per cent in 2018. Significant capacity additions have been made in transmission lines, transformer capacity, and inter-regional transmission.
India now ranks 26th in the World Bank's "Ease of Getting Electricity" Index, up from 99th in 2014. Progress in household electrification under the SAUBHAGYA initiative, was reviewed. Discussions also focused on last mile connectivity and distribution, in both urban and rural areas.
In the new and renewable energy sector, cumulative installed capacity has nearly doubled, from 35.5 GigaWatts in 2013-14, to about 70 GigaWatts in 2017-18. In solar energy, installed capacity has increased from 2.6 GigaWatts to 22 GigaWatts in the same period. Officials expressed confidence that India is on track to comfortably achieve the Prime Minister's target of 175 GigaWatts renewable energy capacity by 2022.
The Prime Minister urged the officials to work towards ensuring that the benefits from increase in solar energy capacity, reach the farmers, through appropriate interventions such as solar pumps, and user-friendly solar cooking solutions.
In the petroleum and natural gas sector, it was noted that targets set under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana will be comfortably achieved in the current financial year. In the coal sector, discussions focused on further augmentation of production capacity.
PM Modi interacts with Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awardees
December 26, 2024
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The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacted with the 17 awardees of Rashtriya Bal Puraskar in New Delhi today. The awards are conferred in the fields of bravery, innovation, science and technology, sports and arts.
During the candid interaction, the PM heard the life stories of the children and encouraged them to strive harder in their lives. Interacting with a girl child who had authored books and discussing the response she received for her books, the girl replied that others have started writing their own books. Shri Modi lauded her for inspiring other children.
The Prime Minister then interacted with another awardee who was well versed in singing in multiple languages. Upon enquiring about the boy’s training by Shri Modi, he replied that he had no formal training and he could sing in four languages - Hindi, English, Urdu and Kashmiri. The boy further added that he had his own YouTube channel as well as performed at events. Shri Modi praised the boy for his talent.
Shri Modi interacted with a young chess player and asked him who taught him to play Chess. The young boy replied that he learnt from his father and by watching YouTube videos.
The Prime Minister listened to the achievement of another child who had cycled from Kargil War Memorial, Ladakh to National War Memorial in New Delhi, a distance of 1251 kilometers in 13 days, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Divas. The boy also told that he had previously cycled from INA Memorial, Moirang, Manipur to National War Memorial, New Delhi, a distance of 2612 kilometers in 32 days, to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, two years ago. The boy further informed the PM that he had cycled a maximum of 129.5 kilometers in a day.
Shri Modi interacted with a young girl who told that she had two international records of completing 80 spins of semi-classical dance form in one minute and reciting 13 Sanskrit Shokas in one minute, both of which she had learnt watching YouTube videos.
Interacting with a National level gold medal winner in Judo, the Prime Minister wished the best to the girl child who aspires to win a gold medal in the Olympics.
Shri Modi interacted with a girl who had made a self stabilizing spoon for the patients with Parkinson’s disease and also developed a brain age prediction model. The girl informed the PM that she had worked for two years and intends to further research on the topic.
Listening to a girl artiste who has performed around 100 performances of Harikatha recitation with a blend of Carnatic Music and Sanskrit Shlokas, the Prime Minister lauded her.
Talking to a young mountaineer who had scaled 5 tall peaks in 5 different countries in the last 2 years, the Prime Minister asked the girl about her experience as an Indian when she visited other countries. The girl replied that she received a lot of love and warmth from the people. She further informed the Prime Minister that her motive behind mountaineering was to promote girl child empowerment and physical fitness.
Shri Modi listened to the achievements of an artistic roller skating girl child who won an international gold medal at a roller skating event held in New Zealand this year and also 6 national medals. He also heard about the achievement of a para-athlete girl child who had won a gold medal at a competition in Thailand this month. He further heard about the experience of another girl athlete who had won gold medals at weightlifting championships in various categories along with creating a world record.
The Prime Minister lauded another awardee for having shown bravery in saving many lives in an apartment building which had caught fire. He also lauded a young boy who had saved others from drowning during swimming.
Shri Modi congratulated all the youngsters and also wished them the very best for their future endeavours.
A very special interaction with those youngsters who have been conferred the Rashtriya Bal Puraskar Award. I congratulate all the youngsters awarded and also wish them the very best for their future endeavours. pic.twitter.com/QhuFOuBrto
