Investments in RE Sector Fell 14% to Rs 68550 Cr in 2019

Investments in the country’s renewable energy sector fell by 14 percent to Rs 68,550 crore in the calendar year 2019, the Parliament has been informed.

Investments in the country’s renewable energy sector fell by 14 percent to Rs 68,550 crore in the calendar year 2019, the Parliament has been informed. In 2018, the estimated investment in the domestic RE sector was at Rs 79,606 crore, Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy R K Singh informed the Lok Sabha. An estimated Rs 68,550 crore investment was made in the renewable energy sector in 2019, he said citing private data.

While the investment in 2015 was at Rs 72,972 crore, it zoomed to Rs 1,00,982 crore in 2016, the data showed. The investment dropped to Rs 81,080 crore in 2017 and further to Rs 79,606 crore in 2018.

India has set an ambitious production target of 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. The minister further said that a cumulative renewable energy capacity of 86.75 GW has already been installed in the country up to February 2020, and to achieve the balance target of 88.25 GW, an estimated investment of around Rs 4,21,861 crore is required at present capital costs.

Recently, the minister had also informed that Green energy projects have attracted investments of about Rs 1.34 lakh crore between April 2017 and January 2020.

A Parliamentary panel recently expressed dismay over the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) missing its annual targets continuously and suggested the ministry to identify weak areas and take corrective actions without any further delay.

The panel expressed concerns that the ministry may also find it difficult to achieve the 175 GW (gigawatt) target by 2022. For the years 2017-18 and 2018-19, against the grid-connected renewable energy target of 14,445 MW and 15,355 MW, the Ministry could achieve 11,876.82 MW and 8519.52 MW, respectively. Similarly, during the year 2019-20 (up to January 2020), 8,004.64 MW could be installed against the target of 11,852 MW. it said.

The committee said it “feels that with continuous non-achievement of the assigned yearly physical targets, the Ministry may find it difficult to achieve 175 GW by 2022. The committee highly dissatisfied with the performance of the Ministry and expects the Ministry to improve its target achievement in the coming year.”

The committee has recommended the MNRE to identify the weak areas on the basis of its performance during the previous years and take corrective actions without any further delay. It should also ensure continuous monitoring of the implementing agencies.