Achieving the clean energy target
The year 2022 could be a pivotal one for India’s energy transition. Recently, some of India’s biggest energy companies—Reliance Industries Ltd, Adani Group and NTPC Ltd—had announced massive investments in renewable energy (RE), mostly solar, to herald their transition to a low-carbon future. Further, according to the CEEW Centre for Energy Finance, in 2021, Indian RE companies raised a record $5.9 billion through ‘green bonds’ from overseas debt markets. In spite of these positive signals, the task ahead remains herculean. Since 2016, the average rate of RE deployment in India has been around 10 GW per annum. This has to almost quadruple if renewables were to constitute at least 85 per cent of the government’s target of setting up 500 GW of clean energy capacity by 2030. Could the upcoming Union Budget unveil enabling policies and remove roadblocks that help accelerate India’s RE deployment in the coming years?
Through the last decade, India has been at the forefront of adopting innovative approaches and solutions to boost the prospects of its renewable energy sector.
