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.
State-owned firm Indian Railways, which carries 23 million passengers everyday, is targeting 5GW of solar by 2025 in partnership with global development organisation UNDP.
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.
Despite multi-Gigawatt solar plans, the ability of India’s public sector to compete in the PV market has been called into question by analyst firm Bridge to India.
Germany-based PV firm IBC solar has signed an EPC contract with Indian conglomerate LN Bangur Group for a 22.5MW solar PV system in near Phalodi in Rajasthan, India.
The latest Indian solar auction has seen wining tariffs return to extreme lows at INR 4.35/kWh (US$0.065) for 130MW of PV in the Indian state of Rajasthan.
Wind power developers in India have been facing delayed payments from distribution companies of up to eight months at a time in various states, but solar developers have experienced only negligible delays in a couple of states, according to industry analysts.
Indian state-owned utility NTPC has given the go ahead for investment in 510MW of solar PV projects in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, according to a filing on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
