Distributed renewable energy (DRE) is over a US $100 Billion business opportunity for India, as per a report by Clean Energy Access Network (CLEAN). But harnessing any such potential requires unambiguous understanding of its role in country’s development ambitions. The discussion on relevance of DRE in India often gets clogged between its competitive vs complementary nature with respect to traditional means of providing clean energy access.
Grid based electricity access to low income consumers remains a costly affair in India. Discoms continue spending capital for the non-paying segments, with low hopes for recovery. State-owned Discoms are expected to amass a mammoth outstanding debt of INR 2.6 lakh crores, at the end of current fiscal year. Consequently, due to suboptimal investment, longstanding concerns of consumers regarding poor service quality and infrastructure remain unalleviated. Industrial and commercial consumers have been resorting to buy power through open access in search of cost-effective quality power. Therefore, with reducing cross-subsidizing consumer base, the financial position of discoms seems exacerbating in future. Elseways, domestic consumers, especially in rural areas, cannot enjoy quality power due to low income levels.
