Energy investment has risen most rapidly in India in three years till 2018, up 12% to around $85 billion, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its latest report. While global energy investment stabilised at near $1.85 trillion in 2018 after three years of decline, the US and India were the only two countries where investment in energy recorded a growth in 2018 from 2015-levels, the IEA noted.
The country was also the fourth-largest destination for power sector investment in 2018, trailing behind China, the US and the European Union, the agency said. Spending on renewables in India continued to exceed that for fossil fuel-based power for the third year in a row. Solar spending exceeded that for coal power for the first time in 2018.
The report, titled World Energy Investment 2019, attributed the rise in renewable funding to the government-led auctions of solar/wind projects and the current stress in the thermal power generation sector, rendering the latter financially unattractive.
