Markets & Policy

India installed 3,316 MW of non-hydro renewable energy capacity in the third quarter of FY2021-22, compared to just 1,914 MW installed in the same period last year. Out of this, 93% (3,072 MW) came from solar.

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.

BloombergNEF’s Jenny Chase has surveyed the state of affairs in world solar for clean energy journal Joule and said the technology’s historic ability to surmount obstacles – and persistently confound analysts’ predictions – should offer a reason for hope.

For real estate developers, now is the best time to install a solar energy system in their projects because solar rebates, tax credits, and incentives are at all-time highs. At the same time, a solar energy system may help them prepare for tomorrow’s specific difficulties while also saving money now.

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.

The Biden administration has upheld an exclusion for bifacial panels in its new extension of Section 201 tariffs, while ramping up the annual tariff rate quota for cells to 5GW.

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.