Government initiatives to incentivise investment by private sector in the field of renewable energy – EQ Mag

The Government has taken following measures to incentivise investment by private sector in the field of renewable energy including solar energy in the country:

• Permitting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100 percent under the automatic route,
• Waiver of Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) charges for inter-state sale of solar and wind power for projects to be commissioned by 30th June 2025,
• Declaration of trajectory for Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) up to the year 2029-30,
• Setting up of Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks to provide land and transmission to RE developers for installation of RE projects at large scale,
• Schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM), Solar Rooftop Phase II, 12000 MW CPSU Scheme Phase II, etc,
• Laying of new transmission lines and creating new sub-station capacity under the Green Energy Corridor Scheme for evacuation of renewable power,
• Notification of standards for deployment of solar photovoltaic system/devices,
• Setting up of Project Development Cell for attracting and facilitating investments,
• Standard Bidding Guidelines for tariff based competitive bidding process for procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV and Wind Projects.
• Government has issued orders that power shall be dispatched against Letter of Credit (LC) or advance payment to ensure timely payment by distribution licensees to RE generators.
• Notification of Promoting Renewable Energy through Green Energy Open Access Rules 2022.
• Notification of “The electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and related matters) Rules (LPS rules).
• Launch of Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) to facilitate sale of Renewable Energy Power through exchanges.
• National Green Hydrogen Mission approved with an aim to make India a Global Hub for production, utilization and export of Green Hydrogen and its derivatives.

With a normative cost of Rs. 4 Crore per MW for solar installation, it is estimated that an investment of around Rs. 2, 53,210 Crore has been made on installation of 63302.47 MW capacity solar projects in the country.

Since the tariff of electricity generated from solar energy has come down to as low as Rs. 1.99 per kWh, much lower than new thermal or hydro based power generation systems, solar power projects are commercially viable.

This information was given by Shri R.K Singh, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy in a written reply in Lok Sabha yesterday.