The second edition of RE-Invest, Indian government’s flagship renewable energy event, will be held from October 3 to 5 this year, after having gone through several rounds of rescheduling in the past couple of years. The event will be held alongside the first general assembly meet of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), a treaty-based inter-government organisation headquartered in India.
This year’s RE-invest assumes particular importance as the India has scaled up its renewable energy capacity addition target from 175 GW to 227 GW over the next four years, industry experts say.
“So far, only the dates of the event have been finalised. A decision on the partner country, states is yet to be taken,” said a senior official aware of developments.
RE-Invest, organised by the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) was initially envisaged to be held annually, but the plan did not materialise after the inaugural event was held in February 2015. It was scheduled for February 2016 next, which was eventually postponed to November 2016, then February 2017. This was again rescheduled to December 2017 and then to April this year.
This year’s Re-Invest is expected to see over 5,000 domestic and international delegates from over a hundred countries in attendance, according to the official event website. With the ISA general assembly meet in the first week of October, the chances of RE-Invest being postponed yet again, remain slim.
“MNRE has been focusing on manufacturing-led solar tenders, which will be a potential driver for investment in the country. Apart from a few policy gaps, India is well-positioned to attract investment in the renewable energy space, as leading markets like China have slowed down considerably,” said Vinay Rustagi, managing director at Bridge to India.
Meanwhile, ISA’s first general assembly meet is expected to see ministerial level participation from its 121 member countries, said the official quoted above.
“Apart from deliberations on the execution of rules and regulations of the alliance, a decision on whether the ISA membership could be made open to countries beyond the tropics, will also be taken,” a senior ISA official said.
As of now, the ISA membership is limited to 121 countries between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. The organisation has received representations from countries including Germany, Korea, Tunisia, Italy for becoming full-fledged members.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes
