All eyes are on India after the historic solar bids seen in Madhya Pradesh earlier this month, but headline prices won’t solve the more entrenched problems of the sector. PV Tech caught up with Ashish Khanna, executive director and CEO, Tata Power Solar, at the firm’s Noida offices near New Delhi to garner a rational viewpoint from one of the world's pioneering solar manufacturers and India's top solar rooftop EPC player.
India’s major scheme to alleviate the debts of its distribution companies (Discoms) now covers 90% of the aggregate debt of all Discoms after the state of Tamil Nadu joined the programme today.
The Indian states of Telangana and Assam have joined the government’s major rescue package for the country’s debt-laden distribution companies (Discoms), on the same day that a web portal and mobile app for the scheme was launched.
Even though monkeys were allegedly wreaking havoc on India’s solar rooftop systems last year, 2016 was remarkable for the Indian PV sector. With solar taking 1% the nation’s electricity share and India set to become the world’s third largest market in 2017 , Bloomberg New Energy Finance has proclaimed that ‘solar is king of Indian renewables’. Add the completion of the world’s largest solar plant to these accolades and you have a good indicator of the South Asian giant’s ambitions. Even India’s biggest oil, steel and mining companies are getting on board the solar rush.
Tariffs for utility-scale solar power in India are expected to go below the four rupee (US$0.059) mark next year, which would be a “radical moment” for India’s entire power sector, according to consultancy firm Bridge to India.
India’s major package to try and turn around the finances of its distribution companies (Discoms) has yet to make a positive impact and has even worsened conditions for some companies, according to consultancy firm Mercom Capital Group.
The distribution companies (Discoms) of Rajasthan, which were the highest loss-making in all of India, could be the first to turn around a profit in 2017, according Piyush Goyal, minister of power, coal, new and renewable energy and mines.
The losses of Indian distribution companies (Discoms) that have joined the government’s major rescue package Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojna (UDAY) could more than halve from their current level by FY2019, according to new research from global analysis firm CRISIL.
