Finance

All stakeholders are expecting the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) to expedite and issue letters of award to balance companies that have bid under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for solar. Most players have already acquired land and some have even done the land development work and basic construction in anticipation of the award pending for the last three months. 

Ashutosh Verma, founder of solar appliance manufacturing company Exalta India, says the key to increasing the uptake of solar products in rural areas lies in improving the access to finance, infrastructure to retain the technology, and awareness on usage.

The State-owned hydropower producer has proposed an investment of INR 50,000 crore (around US$6,683 million) to develop 10 GW of solar power projects in the State in the next five years.

India should not just rely on solar equipment imports but also promote domestic manufacturing to ensure an uninterrupted march to its 280 GW target of installed solar power capacity by 2030. The budgetary allocation of an extra INR19,500 crore (US$2,602 million) to the production-linked incentive scheme for solar provides the much-needed impetus for domestic production, say GlobalData analysts.

The investors included domestic financial institutions India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited and Aseem Infrastructure Finance Limited. Virescent shall use the proceeds primarily to fund solar asset acquisitions related debt requirements. 

The developer’s three arms, which collectively have 930 MW of operational solar power projects, have raised INR 612.30 crore (US$81.96 million) through their maiden domestic bond issuance. The proceeds will be utilized to part-refinance existing rupee term loan bearing higher interest cost.

U.S-based solid-state battery start-up Sparks has opened a pilot plant for its patented lithium battery technology based on zero cobalt cathodes. The company wants to challenge China’s dominance in next-gen battery development.

With the issuance of sovereign green bonds, several global investors will be interested in taking exposure to the Indian renewable energy market that is brimming with opportunities in hybrid, storage, round-the-clock, and rooftop solar projects.

Mercedes-Benz has teamed up with ProLogium to integrate solid-state battery technology into a range of passenger vehicles; Panasonic and Toyota have launched an industrial-academic collaborative research program concerned with battery resources and recycling; and LG Energy Solution plans to spend $2.1 billion with General Motors to build another electric vehicle battery plant in the U.S.

With solar water pumps, farmers have access to high-quality power available for irrigation. These systems are portable and can be assembled at any preferred location. With the growing utilization of these systems, the costs have decreased substantially, making them an efficient, convenient, and cost-effective solution for grid-isolated rural areas.