India added 7 GW of renewable energy capacity in eight months

India added 7 GW of renewable energy generation capacity during FY 2020-21’s first eight months leading to November end. That is 38% lower than 11.4 GW installed during the corresponding period (April-November end) last fiscal, according to a new report by Care Ratings. 

Solar power accounted for 75% or 5.2 GW of the new capacity addition, taking India’s cumulative installed PV capacity to 37 GW as of November end. 

“The lower capacity addition [during FY 2020-21] can be attributed to the lockdown led disruptions in the supply chain (which slowed movement of inputs and has led to an increase in their prices), labor shortages as well as the constrained finances and liquidity pressures faced by the developers. Besides, the restriction on the imports of inputs, viz, for solar power, has aggravated the constraints faced by the developers,” said Care Ratings analysts in the report. 

Coal-based power, which is the nation’s dominant electricity source and accounts for 55% of the total power generation capacity, added just 1.9 GW to generation capacity in the eight months to November 2020. 

Of the cumulative 374 GW domestic electricity generation capacity, renewable energy generation capacity stands at 90 GW (24% of the total).

Discom dues

The report said outstanding dues owed by DISCOMs to power generators have been mounting. As of November 2020 end, these amounted to INR 1.31 lakh crore, a 28% increase from April 2020. 

The outstanding dues were the highest for the Discoms of Rajasthan (INR 40,229 crore), followed by Tamil Nadu (INR 21,825 crore) and Uttar Pradesh (INR 14,329 crore). These three states accounted for 58% of the total outstanding dues.