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 As India strives towards a green future, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clean energy policies are creating some wonderful opportunities, which will not only help India achieve its Net Zero goal but also pull millions more out of poverty, Erik Solheim, Former Minister of Climate and the Environment of Norway, has stressed. 

Nearly 25 crore Indians have come out of "multidimensional poverty in the last nine years", with poverty levels declining to 11.28 per cent in 2022-23 from 29.17 per cent in 2013-14, according to a recent paper by NITI Aayog.

Solheim told IANS in an interaction that India under PM Modi is now working on making renewable energy mainstream, which would create several economic opportunities in years to come.

"I'm very optimistic when it comes to governments and industries talking about the green economy. For PM Modi, the green economy is another way to move more people out of poverty, help the middle class create more wealth and let the country shine on the global arena by tapping into the potential of solar, wind, hydropower and all other green assets," the veteran diplomat emphasised.

Speaking at the recently-concluded 4th Global Renewable Energy Investors' Meet in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, the Prime Minister said the government has prioritised high-performance bio-manufacturing by launching the BioE3 policy, aimed at accelerating India's transition to green growth and a Net Zero carbon economy.

Meanwhile, India added nearly 15 GW of renewable energy capacity from April to November in the current financial year, almost double the 7.54 GW added during the same period last year, according to Union New and Renewable Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi.

The country's total installed capacity in the non-fossil fuel energy sector has reached 214 GW, marking an increase of over 14 per cent compared to the same period last year, as the country aims to achieve 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030.

In a significant feat for the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, the scheme has achieved more than 6.85 lakh installations to date and is set to surpass a decade's solar growth in about a year. Since its launch in February this year, the scheme with 685,763 installations has already reached 86 per cent of what was installed in a decade before that.

Around 1.45 crore registrations have been done so far under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana.

According to the Norwegian diplomat, PM Modi's vision to turn the green sector into a massive economic opportunity is a defining moment for the country.

"Going green will create more jobs and prosperity for millions of Indians. At the same time, it will do tremendously well for Mother Earth, to help the environment heal," Solheim told IANS.