Energy specialists in the country have warned that the coal resources may not be available forever to ensure the energy security of the country. The international oil prices are already at high levels and the country must concentrate more on renewable energy to ensure its energy security.

Director General of the World Institute of Sustainable Energy G M Pillai, has said that India has more reasons to look towards the renewable sector because it is a net imported of fossil fuels.

India has growing energy needs but the oil and coal are fast depleting so the country needs to look at sources such as solar power to meet its requirements. Experts suggest the grid to have a mix of hydro, biomass, solar energy to tackle the problems of over demand in major cities during the night.

Indonesia is major exporter of coal and the country is slowly beginning to limit its exports. India will have to compete with other countries such as US and China, for global coal from the one big exporter, Australia.

There are concerns that the power companies are not serious about the aspect because they expect to recover their project costs in about 4 to 5 years. The energy companies, experts say are working with a short term vision and are unconcerned about fuel supply for the plant for the rest of its life.

The use of concentrated solar thermal (CST) units for building with up to five floors and also wind mills to power street lights in large housing complexes have been recommended. However, the energy for industrial units remains a concern.

Experts recommend smaller distributed units to cater to the housing needs and large power plants for industrial units. Desert regions in Gujarat and Rajasthan can be used to set up huge solar power plants, according to experts.

Desert areas are also used in other countries such as US and even oil rich UAE for solar power generation.

The cess on conventional power production for industrial and commercial units imposed by the Maharashtra government has generates about Rs 100 crore annually which has been used for renewable energy generation. Mr Pillai says that by more such ways the finance for such projects in the renewable sector can be generated.