India needs $125-billion investments to more than double its renewable energy to the targeted 175 gigawatts in four years as the nation looks to move to cleaner energy.
“A lot of it ($125-billion) will come from the government,” Anand Kumar, secretary in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, said at a press conference in New Delhi today. The Indian renewable sector has been largely supported by private players and now state-run companies will also invest, he said. Coal India Ltd. and NTPC Ltd. are among the public sector units planning to invest in renewable energy.
Kumar said 32 GW solar capacity has been installed by March 31 against the targeted 100 GW by 2022; 34 GW of wind capacity is on-stream against the 60 GW target. India will end the year through March at 68 GW of renewable capacity, he said.
“We will now engage in innovative ways of financing renewables,” he said. “We, last year, raised $300 million through masala bonds and plan to do at least a similar number this year.”
The government bid out 12,500 megawatts of wind and 20,000 MW of solar capacity in the just-concluded financial year. “To achieve the 175 GW by 2022, we need to finish bidding by March 2020,” Kumar said.
India will auction 30,000 MW each of solar capacity in 2018-19 and 2019-20, according to its plan released last year. For wind, the target is 10 GW each in two years.
Source: BloombergQuint
