Finance

Earlier, UK-based private equity investor had reportedly agreed to buy 685 MW of Essel’s solar power projects (including installed and under-construction) for around Rs 4,700 crore.

U.K. developer Lightsource BP – in which oil and gas giant BP has a significant minority stake – and its Singapore fund partner EverSource Capital are reportedly ready to take up all the $100 million slice of Ayana Renewable Power which is being put up for sale.

Subsidies from central and state bodies will help photovoltaics get within reach of similarly sponsored conventional electricity, which begs the question, why not remove subsidies for both?

Given its ambitious goal of 175 GW renewable power by 2022 and push for electric mobility, the country presents a potential investment opportunity of $50 billion in battery storage facilities.

The payment security fund administered by SECI will ensure late payments by debt-laden discoms will not affect solar developers. The government is considering a levy on PV projects to help maintain the fund.

The project is one among 300 odd projects worth Rs 65,000 crore including solar parks to be launched during a ground breaking ceremony in Kanpur later this month.

The National Solar Energy Federation Of India says the recent decision to exclude commercial and industrial premises, as well as public buildings, from self consumption remuneration unfairly penalizes businesses and public bodies which have gone down the solar path.

The solar projects, mainly located in Africa and South America, are identified by International Solar Alliance (ISA). These will include on-grid as well as off-grid projects like rooftop solar and irrigation pumps powered by solar panels.

Considering the remarkable advances made by the solar sector since the Rio ‘Earth Summit’ of 1992, PV was notable by its absence at the Convention of Parties climate change summit held by the UN in Poland.

From April to November, Indian imports of solar cells and modules from Singapore – worth Rs489 crore, Vietnam (Rs263 crore) and Thailand (Rs155 crore) recorded whopping annual growth rates of 242%, 440% and 2,711%, respectively.