The Government made a commitment at the RE-Invest 2015 for generation of more 217 GW of green energy by 2020, which translates into investments of USD 250 billion. In order to accomplish this objective, it is expected that the upcoming budget would give special emphasis on renewable energy; only then can the renewable energy segment receive investments leading to enhanced efficiencies and growth.
Besides the industry expects the Govt. to address some concerns on couple few fronts :
(1) Financing – In order to have smooth flow of project and investments, it is important to accord priority status to renewable energy by the bankers, and longer amortization in line with the infrastructure sector to the tune of 20 years,
(2) Lower cost of financing, as capita costs is the only major cost for a RE project, interest rebate may be given to RE projects that are sourcing from domestic manufacturers in line with BNDES/FINAME mechanism prevalent in Brazil, and
(3) Dovetail ‘Make in India’ in SME sector , as the major costs for SME sector is interest & energy; if an interest rebate is given to SME sector to invest in RE for their captive utilization would lead to lowering and hedging their energy cost , making them competitive and robust (we have seen that happen in Textile clusters in Tirupur area of Tamil Nadu)
(4) Adequate outlay to laying down green energy corridor for evacuation of electricity from planned RE projects in the future, and finally (5) Create incentive mechanism for states that are aggressive in implementation of RE projects
On the export front, with a large domestic market with indigenous manufacturing would make India an ideal country for boosting exports, however, it is important to also upgrade EXIM Bank of India to support exports on lines with US-Exim and China-Exim. As of now, with a limited equity capital base, EXIM Bank of India limits USD 200 million line of credit to any single corporate, while in RE sector alone, the requirement ranges from USD 500 million – 1 USD billion.
About Suzlon Group:
The Suzlon Group is ranked as the world’s fifth largest* wind turbine manufacturer, in terms of annual installed capacity and market share in 2013. The company’s global spread extends across Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa and North and South America with 25,487 MW of wind energy capacity installed, operations across over 31 countries and a workforce of over 10,000. The Group offers one of the most comprehensive product portfolios – ranging from submegawatt onshore turbines at 600 Kilowatts (kW), to the world’s largest commercially-available offshore turbine at 6.15 MW – with a vertically integrated, low-cost, manufacturing base. The Group – headquartered at Suzlon One Earth in Pune, India – comprises Suzlon Energy Limited and its subsidiaries, including Senvion SE. Visit us at www.suzlon.com
