Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced that there are huge renewable energy deployment plans for India for the next decade which are likely to generate business prospects of around $20 billion per year. In his address after inaugurating the 3rd Global Renewable Energy Investment Meeting and Expo (RE-Invest 2020), through video conferencing, he invited investors, developers and businesses to join India's renewable energy journey. He said that after the success of Performance Linked Incentives (PLI) in electronics manufacturing, the government has decided to give similar incentives to high efficiency solar modules. Stressing that ensuring 'ease of doing business' is their utmost priority and dedicated Project Development Cells have been established to facilitate investors, he said that in the last 6 years, India has travelled on an "unparalleled journey". The Prime Minister noted that India's renewable power capacity is the fourth largest in the world and is growing at the fastest speed among all major countries. The renewable energy capacity in India is currently 136 Giga Watts, which is about 36 per cent of its total capacity. 

Key Points

• India was ranked fourth in wind power, fifth in solar power and fifth in renewable power installed capacity as of 2018.
• As of August 31, 2020, installed renewable energy capacity stood at 88.79 gigawatts (GW), of which solar and wind comprised 35.73 GW and 37.99 GW, respectively.
• In 2019, India installed 7.3 GW of solar power across the country, establishing its position as the third-largest solar market in the world.
• India has been building a solar power plant in Rajasthan since 2019, which will be the world’s largest with a capacity of 2,255 MW.
• India plans to add 30 GW of renewable energy capacity along with deserts on its western border of Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• India’s demand for solar energy is creating a market opportunity worth $20 billion annually.
• The demand for locally produced panels is estimated to grow to 36 GW over three years.

Issues regarding Solar Manufacturing in India

• Lack of geotechnical support in engineering.
• Transmission and Distribution losses at approximately 40% make generation through solar energy sources highly unfeasible. 
• Low Per capita land availability
• Lack of closer industry-government cooperation for technology development.
• Training and development of human resources to drive industry growth.
• Complexity of subsidy structure & involvement of too many agencies (like MNRE, IREDA, SNA, electricity board and electricity regulatory commission) makes the development of solar PV projects difficult.
• Delays in subsidy disbursal.

Government Efforts in Promoting Solar Energy
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission

• Also known as National Solar Mission, is one of the eight key National Mission’s which comprise India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).
• NAPCC was launched on 30th June 2008 which identified the development of solar energy technologies in the country as a National Mission.
• The mission was approved on January 11, 2010 by the government.
• The Mission has set the ambitious target of deploying 20,000 MW of grid-connected solar power by 2022 (later revised to 1,00,000 MW by 2022 in June 2015).

Rooftop Scheme

• Executed by SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India).
• It offers 30% subsidy to the residential sector, private not for profit education organizations, social sector, and the health institutions for adoption of solar rooftops.

Solar Park Scheme

• Launched by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)
• Aim: To set up a number of solar parks across several states, each with a capacity of almost 500 MW.
• Solar Park is a concentrated zone of development of solar power generation projects.
• The implementation agency would be Solar Energy Corporation of India on behalf of Government of India (GoI).
• The scheme proposes to offer financial support by the GoI to establish solar parks to facilitate the creation of infrastructure required for setting up new solar power projects in terms of allocation of land, transmission, access to roads, availability of water, etc.

Suryamitra Skill Development Programme

• Organized by National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), an autonomous institution of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Aim

• To develop the skills of youth, for India and abroad.
• Promote entrepreneurship in solar energy sector.

PM KUSUM

• MNRE has launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha even Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) Scheme for farmers.

Aim

• Installation of solar pumps and grid-connected solar and other renewable power plants in the country.
• Add solar and other renewable capacities of 25,750 MW by 2022 with the total central financial support of Rs. 34,422 Crore.

State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index (SARAL)

• SARAL is an initiative of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• It is a measuring scale or an index to evaluate and rank all states according to their performance, growth, level of maturity, policy framework, and implementation environment in the rooftop solar sector.

Solar Cities Programme

• Launched by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in 2014.
• The Solar City aims at minimum 10% reduction in projected demand of conventional energy at the end of five years, which can be achieved through a combination of energy efficiency measures and enhancing supply from renewable energy sources in the City.
• A total of 60 cities/towns are proposed to be supported for development as Solar/ Green Cities.

Objectives

• To enable/empower Urban Local Governments to address energy challenges at City - level.
• To provide a framework and support to prepare a Master Plan including assessment of the current energy situation, future demand and action plans.
• To build capacity in the Urban Local Bodies and create awareness among all sections of civil society.
• To involve various stakeholders in the planning process.
• To oversee the implementation of sustainable energy options through public-private partnerships.

Mission Solar Charkha

• The Solar Charkha Mission is a Ministry of Micro Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) initiative launched during June 2018.
• Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) would implement the programme.

Objectives

• To ensure inclusive growth by generation of employment, especially for women and youth, and sustainable development through solar charkha clusters in rural areas.
• To boost the rural economy and help in arresting migration from rural to urban areas.
• To leverage low-cost, innovative technologies and processes for sustenance.

Policy-based efforts

• MNRE has set solar power tariff cap at Rs 2.50 (US$ 0.04) and Rs 2.68 (US$ 0.04) units, respectively, for developers using domestic and imported solar cells and modules.
• Government plans to establish a renewable energy capacity of 500 GW by 2030.

Electricity Act, 2003

• The act provides a framework for the overall growth of the electricity sector in India.
• It gives provisions for preferential tariff and quotas for opting for renewable energy.
• Mandatory procurement of renewable energy for distribution licensees.
• Facilitation of grid connectivity was incorporated.

National Electricity Policy, 2005

• The policy allows preferential tariffs for power produced from renewable energy sources.
• It aimed to provide access to electricity to all and increase the minimum per capita availability to 1000 kWh per year by 2012.

Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), 2011

• RECs is a market-based mechanism.
• It was introduced to enhance renewable energy capacity.

It levels the inter-state divergences of renewable energy generation and the requirement of the obligated entities to meet their RPOs with a differentiated price for solar and non-solar.

Road Ahead

• Renewables are going to replace fossil fuels by 2050 and between now and then, what we need to do is ensure that we have a diversify energy mix and get out best what is available at that moment. We also have to ensure that we improve our infrastructure and work on capacity building and better integration in the near immediate future. What's the challenge as far as renewable is concerned are storage and 24/7 supply but that too is changig quickly and we see that changing for the better. Hydrogen is the next big thing as far as renewables are concerned. So we need to improve our technology to harness and get the best out of what we have.