Policy

The interim budget has provided Rs 3,004.90 crore for solar projects development (including both grid-interactive and off-grid and decentralized) in financial year 2019-20, which is just 1 per cent increase over the estimated expenditure of Rs 2,969 crore this fiscal, according to reports.

The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has invited comments of all the stakeholders on the solar PV water pumping system specifications set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

For the purchase, the government of Tamil Nadu is seeking a loan from German state-owned development bank KfW, at an interest rate of 2%, according to reports.

A proposed investment in railways and roads offers an opportunity to harness solar for commercial vehicles and public transport. However, the 2019 federal budget does not address the industry’s call for varied financing options for solar projects or a plea to treat consumers’ solar borrowings as home loans.

Reaffirming Indian government’s commitment to promote renewable energy, Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal laid emphasis on the need for increased use of electric vehicles and new-age energy solutions. He also highlighted that the Indian government would meet its target of universal household electrification by the end of March 2019.

General Electric (GE) intends to consolidate all of its renewable and grid assets into a single unit, intensifying focus on the growing renewable energy market.

The overall private player driven market could grow to Rs 26,178 million by 2023 from current Rs 7,051 million, while the government driven market would increase from Rs 31,700 million to Rs 75,000 million. Most of the future sales is likely to come from solar lanterns with additional services, for example, mobile charging, radio, and solar home systems—according to a latest report by GOGLA.

While the rail sector carries 8% of the world’s passengers and 7% of global freight transport, it represents only 2% of total transport energy demand, thus highlighting its efficiency. By diversifying energy sources and providing more efficient mobility, rail can lower transport energy use, and reduce carbon dioxide and local pollutant emissions, say International Energy Agency (IEA) analysts.

India’s Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has tendered 1.5 GW worth of solar cell and module manufacturing capacity linked to ISTS connected solar PV power plants for an aggregate capacity of 3 GW. The plants are to be developed on ‘build own operate’ basis. The maximum tariff payable to the project developers has been fixed at Rs 2.75/kWh for 25 years.

The President of India has sanctioned implementation of viability gap funding for setting up of 1 GW grid-connected solar PV power projects in North Eastern states including Sikkim. The funding has been approved as a subset of the existing scheme for setting up of 5 GW grid connected solar PV power projects with viability gap funding under Batch IV Phase II of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.