Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

The 1970s energy crisis led to the establishment of the Commission for Additional Sources of Energy (CASE) in the Department of Science & Technology (India) in March 1981. The CASE was responsible for the formulation of policies and their implementation, creation of programmes for development of new and renewable energy and coordinating and intensifying R&D in the sector.

In 1982, a new department was created in the then Ministry of Energy, i.e., Department of Non-conventional Energy Sources (DNES). DNES incorporated CASE under its umbrella.

The ministry was established as the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources in 1992. It adopted its current name in October 2006.[5]

The Mission of the Ministry is to ensure

1. Energy Security: Lesser dependence on oil imports through development and deployment of alternative fuels (hydrogen, bio-fuels and synthetic fuels) and their applications to contribute towards bridging the gap between domestic oil supply and demand;
2. Increase in the share of clean power: Renewable (bio, wind, hydro, solar, geothermal & tidal) electricity to supplement fossil fuel based electricity generation;
3. Energy Availability and Access: Supplement energy needs of cooking, heating, motive power and captive generation in rural, urban, industrial and commercial sectors;
4. Energy Affordability: Cost-competitive, convenient, safe, and reliable new and renewable energy supply options; and
5. Energy Equity: Per-capita energy consumption at par with the global average level by 2050, through a sustainable and diverse fuel- mix.[6]

To develop new and renewable energy technologies, processes, materials, components, sub-systems, products & services at par with international specifications, standards and performance parameters in order to make the country a net foreign exchange earner in the sector and deploy such indigenously developed and/or manufactured products and services in furtherance of the national goal of energy security.[7]

The major functional area or Allocation of Business of MNRE are:

• Commission for Additional Sources of Energy (CASE);
• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA);
• Integrated Rural Energy Programme (IREP);
• Research and development of Biogas and programmes relating to Biogas units;
• Solar Energy including Solar Photovoltaic devices and their development, production, and applications;
• Programme relating to improved chulhas and research and development thereof;
• All matters relating to small/mini/micro hydel projects and below 25 MW capacities;
• Research and development of other non-conventional/renewable sources of energy and programmes relating thereto;
• Tidal energy;
• Geothermal Energy;
• Biofuel: (i) National Policy; (ii) research, development and demonstration on transport, stationary and other applications; (iii) setting up of a National Bio-fuels Development Board and strengthening the existing institutional mechanism; and (iv) overall coordination.

• Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) - The National Solar Mission was launched on 11 January 2010 by the Prime Minister. The Mission has set the ambitious target of deploying 20,000 MW of grid-connected solar power by 2022. Further, Government has revised the target of Grid Connected Solar Power Projects from 20,000 MW by the year 2021-22 to 100,000 MW by the year 2021-22 under the National Solar Mission and it was approved by Cabinet on 17 June 2015.[8]
• National Biogas and Manure Management Programme (NBMMP)[9]
• Solar Lantern Programme LALA[10]
• Solar thermal energy Demonstration Programme[11]
• Remote Village Lighting Programme[12]
• National Biomass Cookstoves Initiative (NBCI)[13]
• National Offshore Wind Energy Authority[14]
• Association of Renewable energy agencies of states (AREAS): It was formed by Ministry for better coordination and sharing of best practices among various state nodal agencies for renewable energy. The Minister in charge of the MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable energy) is the patron while the Secretary of MNRE is the ex-officio president of the association.[15]
• One Sun One World One Grid initiative : The ambitious project aims to connect 140 countries of South East Asia and Middle East to a trans-national solar power grid. The idea was first proposed by India in 2018 assembly of International Solar Alliance and is aimed at moving one step ahead in the direction of target of government to produce 40% of its energy requirements from the renewable sources. The idea behind this initiative is, "Sun never sets" and it is constant at a particular geographic location at a given point of time. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy will head this initiative with technical support from the World Bank.[16]

The Ministry has 5 specialized technical institution.[17] They are:-

• National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE): National Institute of Solar Energy, an autonomous institution of Ministry of New and Renewable (MNRE), is the apex National R&D institution in the field Solar Energy. The Government of India has converted 25-year-old Solar Energy Centre (SEC) under MNRE to an autonomous institution in September 2013 to assist the Ministry in implementing the National Solar Mission and to coordinate research, technology, skill development, training, consultancy, incubation and other related works. NISE is located in Gurugram, Haryana
• National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE): NIWE has been established in Chennai in the year 1998, as an autonomous R&D institution by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India. It is a knowledge-based institution of high quality and dedication, offers services and seeks to find complete solutions for the kinds of difficulties and improvements in the entire spectrum of the wind energy sector by carrying out further research. NIWE is located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Website : https://niwe.res.in/
• Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Bio-Energy (SSS-NIBE): SSS-NIBE is an autonomous Institution of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Govt. of India spread over a sprawling campus of about 75 acres, the Institute is marching towards development into a Global Centre of Excellence in the Bio-Energy. The objectives of the Institute are to carry out and facilitate research, design, development, testing, standardization & technology demonstration eventually leading to commercialization of RD&D output with a focus on bioenergy, biofuels & synthetic fuels in solid, liquid & gaseous forms for transportation, portable & stationary applications, development of hybrid / integrated energy systems, to undertake & facilitate human resource development at all levels including postdoctoral research. It is located in Kapurthala (Punjab).
• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA): IREDA is a Non-Banking Financial Institution under the administrative control of this Ministry for providing term loans for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.IREDA is a Public Limited Government Company.
• Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI): SECI is a CPSU under the administrative control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), set up on 20th Sept 2011 to facilitate the implementation of JNNSM and achievement of targets set therein. It is the only CPSU dedicated to the solar energy sector. It was originally incorporated as a section-25 (not for profit) company under the Companies Act, 1956

The Ministry has established state nodal agencies in different states and union territories of India to promote and expand the growth of efficient energy use of renewable energy in their respective states. The primary objective of a state nodal agency under this ministry is to develop, coordinate, finance and promote research projects in the new and renewable energy field. It is also expected to devise programmes for research and development as well as applicative extensions of new and renewable energy sources.[18]

• Key: MoS (I/C) – Minister of State (Independent Charge)

Portrait		Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
			From	To	Period
Minister of Non-Conventional Energy Sources
		Kalpnath Rai (1941–1999) MP for Ghosi (MoS, I/C)	21 June 1991	2 July 1992	1 year, 11 days	Indian National Congress	Rao	P. V. Narasimha Rao
		P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP for Nandyal (Prime Minister)	2 July 1992	16 May 1996	3 years, 319 days
		Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) MP for Lucknow (Prime Minister)	16 May 1996	1 June 1996	16 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee I	Self
		H. D. Deve Gowda (born 1933) MP for Karnataka (Rajya Sabha) (Prime Minister)	1 June 1996	21 February 1997	265 days	Janata Dal	Deve Gowda	H. D. Deve Gowda
		Captain (Retd.) Jai Narain Prasad Nishad (1930–2018) MP for Muzaffarpur (MoS, I/C)	21 February 1997	21 April 1997	323 days
			21 April 1997	10 January 1998			Gujral	Inder Kumar Gujral
		Inder Kumar Gujral (1919–2012) MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha) (Prime Minister)	10 January 1998	19 March 1998	68 days
		Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) MP for Lucknow (Prime Minister)	19 March 1998	3 February 1999	321 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee II	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
		Rangarajan Kumaramangalam (1952–2000) MP for Tiruchirappalli	3 February 1999	13 October 1999	252 days
		M. Kannappan MP for Tiruchengode (MoS, I/C)	13 October 1999	30 December 2003	4 years, 78 days	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	Vajpayee III
		Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) MP for Lucknow (Prime Minister)	30 December 2003	9 January 2004	10 days	Bharatiya Janata Party
		Kariya Munda (born 1936) MP for Khunti	9 January 2004	22 May 2004	134 days
		Vilas Muttemwar (born 1949) MP for Nagpur (MoS, I/C)	23 May 2004	20 October 2006	2 years, 150 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan I	Manmohan Singh
Minister of New and Renewable Energy
		Vilas Muttemwar (born 1949) MP for Nagpur (MoS, I/C)	20 October 2006	22 May 2009	2 years, 214 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan I	Manmohan Singh
		Farooq Abdullah (born 1937) MP for Srinagar	29 May 2009	26 May 2014	4 years, 362 days	Jammu and Kashmir National Conference	Manmohan II
		Piyush Goyal (born 1964) MP for Maharashtra (Rajya Sabha)	27 May 2014	3 September 2017	3 years, 99 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi I	Narendra Modi
		Raj Kumar Singh (born 1952) MP for Arrah (MoS, I/C until 7 July 2021)	3 September 2017	30 May 2017	6 years, 54 days
			31 May 2019	Incumbent			Modi II

• Energy policy of India
• National hydrogen energy road map
• Renewable energy in India
• Wind power in India

• Official website MNRE
• Official website Ministry of Power
• Solar Energy Corporation of India
• National Institute of Solar Energy
• National Institute of Wind Energy, India
• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency