The world should follow India's path on climate change: First Solar CEO tells PM Modi

During his high-profile series of meetings with the top business leaders in the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a fruitful interaction with First Solar CEO Mark Widmar here on Thursday, sources said. Widmar has expressed his happiness with the Indian policies for climate change and related industries, according to sources.

PM Modi spoke about the one world, one Sun and one grid initiative and its potential. He referred to India`s ambitious target of 450 GW of renewable energy. He also emphasised India`s focus on manufacturing of solar energy and said that companies in the field of solar energy can take maximum advantage of our PLI schemes.

PM Modi also discussed India's green hydrogen mission.PM Modi and Widmar both agreed on the enhancement of the manufacturing of solar in India. This will also benefit the countries in the region.

After meeting with PM Modi, Widmar said, "With his leadership and what he has done to create a really strong balance between industrial policy as well as trade policy, makes it an ideal opportunity for companies like solar, to establish manufacturing in India, and his commitment to ensuring domestic capabilities and ensuring his long term climate goals and objectives with focus on energy independence and security."

"I think the alignment of what he is trying to accomplish could not be better for companies that are looking to manufacture in India," he added. Further, he stressed that, "If every country could embrace and emulate what India has done, our ability to hit these long term clinical objectives that are service, established in the Paris Accord won`t be a problem. I believe that India's leadership in terms of being aggressive in its commitment to renewable energy, 50 gigatonnes by the end of this decade, and enabling policies and support that enable domestic capability to ensure the most competitively advantaged and lowest cost way to deliver renewable energy into the market, should be replicated across all major markets around the world.

"Widmar has told PM Modi that his "commitments to India, and wanting to be part of the journey and the vision that he set out is important. It is not one that we would forego, we would want to be part of this opportunity, to be part of this journey. "Asked about India's initiative for the International Solar Alliance, he said, "It will help us think about opportunities. One of the things we want to do with India is not only to be there to support the domestic market, but we want to be a technology leader in leveraging the capabilities that India can provide. And then compete on a global platform and participate in exports into international markets, that type of alliance and opportunity further enhances that potential. "First Solar Inc. is a US multinational corporation that manufactures solar panels and provides utility-scale photovoltaic power plants. The company also provides services associated with finance, construction and maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling.