It now makes economic sense for most corporates in India to look for a cheaper source of power, particularly through renewable energy, according to a new report from The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
Some of the industry is at loggerheads and many feel local manufacturing must be intrinsic to the 100GW by 2022 solar target, but the value of trade duties is under dispute.
India recently proposed a new strategy of supporting its domestic solar manufacturers by allocating 7.5GW of local content tenders to Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs), but analysts have identified a number of limitations.
Indian states are slowly adopting new forecasting rules that will force solar energy plant operators and Regional load dispatch centres (RLDCs) to provide more frequent and accurate projections of energy production or face penalties.
India is now considering imposing safeguard duties on the import of solar cells and modules from China and certain other countries, while it continues contemplating imposing anti-dumping measures.
India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill was enforced on 1 July bringing in a 5% tax on solar PV modules, but there is still uncertainty around taxes on other solar equipment, according to consultancy firm Bridge to India.
India’s famously weak grids should be able to integrate the planned addition of 175GW of renewable energy by 2022, according to a report released by the central government.
India has put forward two separate policies that both promote and mandate rooftop solar for certain buildings – complementing the economic benefits of rooftop PV.
Although Tamil Nadu’s latest 1.5GW solar tender has seen significant oversubscription with 3,774.5MW of submissions, most of the key solar players in India have not participated.
With stricter quality standards due to be brought in for Indian solar tenders, including inspections for modules, cells and wafers, energy and mines minister Piyush Goyal has warned the industry about failure to keep equipment quality high.
