UPDATE 1-India aims to add 17,000 MW renewable power by 2017

* Investment of $33.6 bln needed to add extra green power

* Private cos to drive growth in renewable energy sector (Adds details, background)

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI, May 5 (Reuters) - India aims to add 17,000 megawatts of renewable energy over five years starting 2012, a top government official said on Thursday, stepping up the country's focus to develop clean energy sources.

India's greenhouse gas emissions grew more than half between 1994 and 2007, helped up by a largely coal-reliant power sector that nearly doubled its share in emissions, making the country one of the top five carbon pollutors of the world.

The country is one of the world's top producers of wind energy, and generates solar energy as well as power from biomass and biogas, such as capturing methane from animal waste.

India will need an investment of 1.5 trillion rupees ($33.6 billion) to add the extra capacity in the 12th Five-Year Plan, renewable energy secretary Deepak Gupta said.

He said the country has currently 20 gigawatt of renewable power generation capacity, constituting 11 percent of installed capacity.

India offers cheap loans to companies building alternative energy power plants and provides tax breaks and tariff subsidies to encourage development of the renewables industry.

Gupta said the private sector would contribute most of the projected investment, but did not provide details. ($1 = 44.6 Indian rupees)

(Writing by Ratnajyoti Dutta; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)