Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for focus on research and innovation in the renewable energy sector rather than simply adding more capacity.
“Solar power costs of have come down over the years and is closing in towards grid parity with thermal power. This has been possible due to the research and development that has taken place in the field. It will be R&D that will bring down prices further,” said Modi, addressing the inaugural session of Re-Invest 2015, the global investor meet for the renewable energy sector organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
The Prime Minsiter also called for collaboration of 50 countries with ample solar radiation in the field of solar power.
Modi added that the country’s policies must be framed around the energy resources that are available which is why India is focussing on renewable energy.
“It is heartening to see that India is now talking about capacity addition in terms of gigawatts. This is a big change from the times we were talking about generation capacity addition in terms of megawatts,” he said.
Meanwhile, as part of the investor meet, 213 companies have committed setting up 266 GW of renewable energy over the next five years.
The list of companies includes NTPC who have committed 10,000 MW of renewable energy in the next five years.
In the private sector, the largest commitment for generation is from SunEdison who have committed 15,200 MW, Sumant Sinha’s ReNew Power has promised 11,500 MW, Welspun with 11,001 MW, Azure Power with 11,000 MW, Rasi Solar with 10,600 MW, Ratul Puri’s Hindustan Clean Energy with 10,000 MW, Adani Power with 6,000 MW and Reliance Power with 6,000 MW.
Other companies with commitments include SkyPower with 9,900 MW, Mytra Energy with 7,000 MW, Vikram Solar with 5,500 MW and the Hero Group with 5,500 MW.
For financing, the Re-Invest 2015 has seen 75MW of debt financing commitments. The largest commitment is from State Bank of India who have committed to financing 15,000 MW of projects.
There are also 15 manufacturers who have committed to setting up equipment manufacturing capacity for 61 GW of renewable energy parts.
“Apart from generation, we want equipment manufacturing in India to make sure there is job creation,” said Modi.