NEW DELHI: India will need at least $125 billion to fund its ambitious plan to increase the share of renewable power supply in the country’s grid by 2022, a top government official told Reuters, underlining the immense financing challenge ahead.
The South Asian nation is one of the world’s most important growth markets for renewable energy. Millions of Indians are not yet linked up to the power grid but as the country of more than a billion people prospers, it is experiencing surging demand.
To put India’s $125 billion requirement in context, global corporate funding for the solar industry — the world’s fastest-growing electricity source – was a tenth of that amount in 2017 at $12.8 billion, research firm Mercom says.
In 2015, India said investment of $100 billion in the seven years to 2022 would be needed to meet its renewable energy goals.
Installed renewable power capacity is currently about 60 gigawats (GW), and India plans to complete the bidding process by the end of 2019/20 to add a further 115 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022.
To do that, Anand Kumar, secretary at the ministry of new and renewable energy, said investment of at least $125 billion would be needed.
India, which receives twice as much sunshine as European countries, wants to make solar central to its renewable expansion. It expects renewable energy to make up 40 percent of installed power capacity by 2030, compared with 18.2 percent at the end of 2017.
Kumar said that $125 billion was a “conservative estimate” and foreign capital would be central to achieving the goal.
Private equity firms, US banks including Goldman Sachs , JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, and European utilities EDF and Engie are already investors or lenders in India’s renewable energy sector.
India will also require support from development banks, like the World Bank, Kumar said.
IREDA , a state-run financier for renewable energy, raised $300 million by selling rupee-denominated bonds, known as masala bonds, in the United Kingdom last year. The bonds were subscribed 1.7 times.
“We are also looking to raise another $500 million through IREDA through masala bonds early next financial year,” he said.
NOT ENOUGH
Most of the financing for India’s renewables drive so far has come from domestic banks, industry experts say, raising doubts about the level of support that can be expected from overseas investors.
Market consultant Jasmeet Khurana said Indian banks would have to account for the lion’s share of new renewable investments in the future.
“It is an uphill task, but Indian banks can find the appetite to fund these projects,” Khurana said.
Another challenge in achieving India’s renewable targets is the government’s “Make in India” initiative.
To protect itself from cheap solar panel imports, India’s directorate general of safeguards, an arm of the finance ministry, has proposed a 70 percent duty on imports of solar equipment from some countries including China, which so far provides the vast majority of India’s solar panels.
Kumar said “a duty at this stage could hamper our growth situation,” and “a realistic view” will be taken in consultation with other stakeholders.
The government was working on developing energy storage technologies and hydrogen-fuel cells and other batteries, he said.
“Renewables are the future. The only weak link is storage, and the day you crack storage, there is no looking back for renewables.”
India will need ‘at least $125bn’ to fund renewables dream, says official
India will need ‘at least $125bn’ to fund renewables dream, says official
Tanzania president remorseful over Internet shutdown on election day
- President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Thursday expressed “sympathy” to diplomats and foreign nationals living in the country
- Violence broke out on election day and went on for days as the Internet was shut down
DODOMA, Tanzania: Tanzania’s president has, for the first time since the disputed October election, commented on a six-day Internet shutdown as the country went through its worst postelection violence.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Thursday expressed “sympathy” to diplomats and foreign nationals living in the country, saying the government would strive to ensure there is never a repeat of the same.
Hassan won the October election with more than 97 percent of the vote after candidates from the two main opposition parties were barred from running and the country’s main opposition leader remained in prison facing treason charges.
Violence broke out on election day and went on for days as the Internet was shut down amid a heavy police crackdown that left hundreds of people dead, according to rights groups.
Hassan blamed the violence on foreigners and pardoned hundreds of young people who had been arrested, saying they were acting under peer pressure.
Speaking to ambassadors, high commissioners and representatives of international organizations on Thursday in the capital, Dodoma, she sought to reassure envoys of their safety, saying the government would remain vigilant to prevent a repeat of the disruption.
“To our partners in the diplomatic community and foreigners residing here in Tanzania, I express my sincere sympathy for the uncertainty, service restrictions and Internet shutdowns you experienced,” she said.
Hassan defended her administration, saying the measures were taken to preserve constitutional order and protect citizens.
“I assure you that we will remain vigilant to ensure your safety and prevent any recurrence of such experiences,” the president told diplomats on Thursday.
Tanzania has, since the October elections, established a commission of inquiry to look into the violence that left hundreds dead and property worth millions of shillings destroyed in a country that has enjoyed relative calm for decades.
Foreign observers said the election failed to meet democratic standards because key opposition figures were barred.
