Govt committed to promote renewable energy, especially in MSME sector: Nitin Gadkari

New Delhi, Mar 13: The government is committed to promote renewable energy resources in the country, especially in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector, Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said.

He also exuded confidence that within five years, India will be a top manufacturing hub for automobiles in the world.

Gadkari, who holds MSME portfolio along with road transport, said by making solar energy available, "we will create big market for electric vehicles".

He invited investors abroad to invest in Indian MSMEs and expressed hope that this will provide a number of opportunities to the MSME sector to become the world''s largest manufacturing hub.

The minister was addressing a webinar on ''Aatmanirbhar Bharat - Opportunities in Solar & MSME'' on Friday evening.

In his address, Gadkari said that the MSMEs with good track record are now being encouraged for capital market.

He said there exists a huge opportunity for investment in scrapping policy.

The minister highlighted that India has tremendous potential and capacity for electricity generation.

He said that the solar power rate in India is Rs 2.40 per unit and commercial rate of power is Rs 11 per unit and the cheap power generated through solar energy can be used for automobiles and other developmental works.

The government has set an ambitious target for renewable energy and in particular, solar power generation, for this decade. The target for renewable energy installation is 450 GW by year 2030.