Despite being blessed with solar energy potential equivalent to more than 5,000 Trillion kWh per year, solar power as of today has a negligible share in the total installed renewable power capacity in India. Other than the high cost, some of the other challenges for the development of this sector in India includes; lack of standards, land acquisition problems, lack of consumer awareness etc.
However, mainly due to Government’s initiatives, the Indian solar energy sector is all set to grow rapidly in the coming future. Eleventh five year plan envisages a massive expansion in installed solar capacity. In January 2010, India launched the JNNSM program, which aims to add 20,000 MW of solar power to India's capacity by 2022. During this period, the US$ 19 billion initiative proposes to develop 20 million square meters of solar power collection area and provide electricity to 20 million homes. The program is also expected to create about 100,000 jobs and provide business avenues for small- and medium-size manufacturers of solar turbines and boilers. The JNNSM program has received tremendous response from the domestic solar power industry, as the government has received about 2,000 applications for 5-MW solar power projects. In the latest budget for 2010-11, the government has announced an allocation of INR 10 billion towards the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission and the establishment of a Clean Energy Fund. It implies an increase of INR 3.8 billion from the previous budget. Also budget has also encouraged private solar companies by reducing customs duty on solar panels by 5 percent and exempting excise duty on solar photovoltaic panels. This is expected to reduce the roof-top solar panel installation by 15- 20 percent. The budget also proposed a coal tax of USD 1 per metric ton on domestic and imported coal used for power generation.
As a result, solar industry in India is bound to get the strong impetus both in terms of marketing and manufacturing. India has also emerged as an aspiring producer of solar PV. Moreover, solar radiation, rise in foreign trade, fall in prices of raw materials, availability of funds, demand for off-grid PV applications, demand – supply gap and rise in polysilicon plants would drive the growth of this sector. Thus, it is certain that next few years would see a lot of activity happening in the solar power in India. This would also huge opportunities to the stakeholders in the solar power sector to reap the benefits of early growth.
In the above mentioned backdrop, SNP Infra Research launches, as a part of it latest edition under the esteemed Business Report Series, “Solar Power in India – Exploring the Potential”. The objective of this report is to analyse the prospects of solar energy in India and examine the appropriateness of investment decisions. The Report weighs the pros and cons of the said model and presents important recommendations to expedite the growth of solar power in India. It gauges the preparedness of India to successfully adopt the model and provides invaluable insights to the investor to facilitate strategic decision making process.
