bridge to india

The Indian state of Karnataka’s 1.2GW solar auction, which invited bids for capacities of up to 20MW at a time in separate localities, has lowered the transparency of the tender process for solar developers, according to the latest update from consultancy firm Bridge to India.

A levy, or cess, on coal and other fossil fuels in India will be doubled from INR200 (US$2.93) per tonne to INR400 per tonne, under the latest Budget announced today by minister of finance Arun Jaitley.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has ruled against India's local content rules for solar equipment in its dispute with the US. Jasmeet Khurana, associate director, consulting, Bridge to India explains why the Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) has always been unsustainable and what other policies should be considered to keep Indian solar manufacturers afloat.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling in favour of the US on its complaint against India’s localisation rules for solar equipment, does “not affect the future course of action” that India is considering, Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has told PV Tech.

The Indian city of Chandigarh is planning on becoming the second municipality in India to make rooftop solar mandatory on all buildings.

Solar projects commissioned under government of India and state policies are likely to reach 3,790MW within the year 2015/16, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Developers in India have failed to install 680MW of solar PV projects that were due to be commissioned by December 2015 because of project delays, according to consultancy firm Bridge to India.

India’s government has approved significant amendments to the nation’s power ‘Tariff Policy’, including increasing the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) to 8% for solar energy by March 2022.

India’s fiercely competitive solar auctions have driven bids down to another surprise low with Finland-based developer Fortum Finnsurya Energy winning 70MW capacity in Rajasthan at a price of INR4.34/kWh (US$0.064), which is a drop of more than a 6% from the previous Indian record of INR4.63/kWh.

India crossed the 5GW mark for installed solar capacity this week, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).