The decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of the PM’s Council on Climate Change headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday evening.

The "solar mission" is one of the seven missions proposed under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, which was unveiled by Dr Singh last year promising efforts to tackle climate change at domestic level.

The ambitious Rs 90,000-crore mega-plan is aimed at making India a global leader in solar power by 2020. It is reliably learnt that the council members deliberated over the funding pattern and resource management for the mission. "It has been decided to formulate policy under the mission to attract private investment apart from government spending," a member in the council confirmed.

Deliberating in the meeting several members, who included Dr Singh’s Cabinet colleagues and environmentalists, suggested that under the mission government should go for establishing special institutions for research in solar energy. "A final decision on this, however, could not be taken," the member added.

The mission document proposes various fiscal incentives to encourage manufacturers as well end-consumers to propagate solar plants. It also aims at displacing diesel generators, UPS and invertor system with solar-based systems, the member added.

The sources said the mission document will be presented at the meeting of UN Framework Convention of Climate Change which will be held in December.