(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
Energy insecurity has long been an issue in India, with electricity supplies being unreliable or even nonexistent in parts of the world's second most populous country.
Incoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi has indicated he thinks renewable energy is the answer.
Andrea Nierhoff reports.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full interview)
With a population of around 1.2 billion, India naturally needs a lot of power.
Despite being the fourth largest energy consumer in the world, behind China, the United States and Russia, more than 300 million of its citizens do not have access to an electricity supply.
India's precarious power situation was highlighted in July 2012, when widespread blackouts left almost half of India's population in the dark for days.
At the time authorities blamed high demand.
"There was overdrawing of power as the demand peaked. As a result, two to three grids tripped simultaneously."
But India is now increasingly embracing the idea of renewable energy, with policies in place to shift the country's dependence to newer, greener sources of power.
Since 2009 the nation's government has been working towards a goal of producing an additional 20,000 megawatts of solar power by 2022.
And it is the fifth largest producer of wind power, with turbines generating 1.6 per cent of the country's energy.
Recently elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP government has also promised to tackle the issue, with Mr Modi promising every household would have at least one lightbulb by 2019.
He believes solar is one key answer to India's power problems.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar says sustainability is at the heart of the BJP's policies.
"We will maintain a balance between development and environmental protection and will ensure that both happen together. It is not a case of development versus environment. It is a case of development with environmental protection."
Prime Minister Modi has a history with renewable energy, championing the cause while he served as Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat.
Since his election in May, he has established a portfolio for new and renewable energy, and unveiled plans to build new solar energy plants in areas such as Rajasthan, Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.
But in the near future at least, it looks likely that India's energy needs may continue to outstrip its supply, with the International Energy Agency reporting India will become the world's biggest energy user in the early 2020s.
Pollinate Energy is an Australian-based organisation which visits poor Indian communities, providing them with solar-powered lights.
A volunteer with the group, Scott Watkins, says this allows communities not just to survive, but to flourish.
"This man purchased a solar light while we were there visiting the community. And here he is, taking a light into his house for the first time. These women run businesses using their solar light, selling goods or making clothes at home. Lights make a huge difference to the people in these communities."
However, the move towards renewable energy in India won't quickly diminish its dependence on coal-fired power generation.
On the contrary, the International Energy Agency says India will become the world's biggest user of coal by the early 2020s.
And that could be good news for Australia's coal exporters, as they face a slowdown in demand for coal from China.
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