India to become 'favoured' spot for investment: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS) Union Minister Piyush Goyal Monday said the government was committed to facilitate and protect business in order to make India the "favoured" destination for global investments.

Addressing the Renewable Energy-Invest 2015: First Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet and Expo here, the minister for power, coal and new and renewable energy sought to project India as a new destination of investment for renewable energy in view of its ambitious renewable energy programme with a target of 15 percent generation by 2020.

To achieve the target, the prerequisite is to "make it easier to do business (in India), have consistent policies, ensure our investors that this country is a good place to do business, have bankable contracts, and rule of law in this country," he said.

Goyal said the Narendra Modi-led government seeks to scale up the renewable energy programme as a step towards taking on the scourge of climate change "head-on" and ensure a cleaner world to leave behind a "better, cleaner, and greener India" for posterity.

Stressing on balancing India's growth needs with the requirement to make the country business friendly, the minister said: "While we are pro-poor, we understand that businesses have to be successful and contribute to welfare of the poor in India... this government understands business and acts as a facilitator of business."

"We can have enough energy to provide 24X7 power to every home, industry and commercial establishment. The aim of the government is to dovetail welfare measures for the underprivileged with efforts to make sure that investments in India are protected," he added.

The plenary session of the summit examined the overall renewable energy potential of the country and discussed various investment opportunities.