India can lead fight against global warming: PM Modi

Calling for an energy revolution in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday said India had the strength and resources to lead the world's fight against global warming.

"If there is one country to show the world the way to combat global warming it is India," Modi said inaugurating the first three-day Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet and Expo (Re-Invest) here.

"The way for humankind out of disaster, only India can show the way because we love nature, we worship our rivers as mother," he added.

Speaking of the importance of solar energy in the Indian consciousness, Modi referred to increasing the scope of renewable sources in the current context.

"In our mythology we have imagined the sun god Surya riding on seven horses. In today's age the first four of the seven horses would respectively be thermal (coal), gas, hydro and nuclear energy.

"We need to utilise more the three other horses of solar, wind and biomass."

Modi said the over 50 countries identified to be blessed with good solar radiation were trying to work together on research and development in solar energy and on finding ways to make it economically viable.

The UN has declared 2014-24 as the Decade of Sustainable Energy. Its Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative signed a memorandum of understanding with the Gujarat government last month to support the UN objective to make sustainable energy accessible for all.

Currently, 15% of the global population (about a billion people), including 250 million in India have no access to electricity and 2.6 billion lack modern cooking facilities. They depend on polluting solid fuels.

The India-US nuclear agreement concluded during President Barrack Obama's visit here has eased the way for foreign firms to develop nuclear energy in India.

The government has revised upwards the target of solar power generation from 20,000 MW by 2022 to 100,000 MW by 2020.