Renewable Energy Manufacturing Sector

To make India a hub for renewable energy manufacturing, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been promoting private investment in renewable energy through an attractive mix of fiscal and financial incentives. This was stated by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Minister of state for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy (IC) in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today. This includes capital subsidy through Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) and excise and custom duty exemption. The Government is encouraging participation from other countries by allowing 100% Foreign Direct Investment in Renewable Energy.

The Minister further stated that the an estimated potential of 897 GW has been identified from various renewable energy sources in the country which includes 749 GW from solar, 103 GW from wind, 25 GW from bio-energy and 20 GW from small hydro power. MNRE has proposed grid power of 175 GW from various renewable energy sources by the year 2022. This includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro power.

The geothermal program of the Ministry is presently in research and development stage. The cost of generation of electricity from geothermal energy is presently very high, hence, the promotion of geothermal energy production of power will not be possible in short and medium terms, the Minister added.