Under an initiative launched today, India aims to install 20 million square meters of solar thermal panels and 20 million solar-powered lights. If all goes according to plan, the National Solar Mission will by 2022 add 20 gigwatts (gWs) of solar-based power generation capacity, nationwide.

“We propose to provide up to 90 percent support for setting up solar power plants,” Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah said at the Mission’s launch on Monday. “In many other solar applications, where the initial cost is still very high, we’re considering proposals for providing up to a 30 percent grant in aid,” he added.

In addition to longer-term targets, over the next three years India plans to add 1,300 megawatts (mWs) in solar electricity generation capacity — 1,100 mW of grid-tied systems and 200 mW in off-grid applications.

India currently gets about 10 percent of its electricity from renewable resources, most of it coming from wind turbines. To provide incentive for solar installations, an arm of the country’s state-run electricity producer will purchase at a favorable rate the power generated by such installations. The rate — to be paid over the course of three years — will be fixed by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, a state regulator of electricity markets. While a firm rate has not yet been established, the Commission in September stated that solar photovoltaic (PV) installations could receive a tariff of 18.8 rupees ($0.40) per kilowatt hour (kWh). The cost of electricity generated by coal-fired power plants in India ranges between 1.7 rupees per kWh and 2.6 rupees per kWh.

India Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, attended Monday’s event. He noted that the solar mission was “no doubt ambitious, but doable.” He added, “I am convinced that solar energy can be the next scientific and industrial frontier in India.”