India is progressively becoming a favored destination for investment in renewables, says Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel. He pointed out that in the last six years, over US$64 billion investment has been made in renewable energy in the country.
In his Valedictory Address at the third RE-INVEST 2020, Pradhan said India has a very liberal FDI policy in the energy sector, including renewables. “Foreign investors can either invest on their own or enter into joint ventures with an Indian partner for financial or technical collaboration for setting up of renewable energy-based power generation projects.”
The minister assured that ease of doing business is the government’s utmost priority. “Our continuous focus is on maintaining sanctity of contracts and safeguarding investments. We have established dedicated Project Development Cells (PDCs) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cells in all ministries for handholding and facilitating domestic and foreign investors,” he said. Adquate measures and safeguards have also been undertaken by the government to address the concerns of businesses and investors arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Pradhan observed that the country is in the midst of a major transformative shift in its energy sector, to end energy poverty in India. “Our twin objectives are to enhance availability and affordability of clean fossil fuels and green fuels, and to reduce the carbon footprint through a healthy mix of all commercially-viable energy sources,” he explained. “We are consistently taking energy policy initiatives, revamping policies and taking needful measures. We are developing next generation infrastructure based on five guiding key enablers of energy availability and accessibility to all, energy affordability to the poorest of the poor, efficiency in energy use, energy sustainability to combating climate change as a responsible global citizen, and security for mitigating the global uncertainties.”
India’s energy agenda is inclusive, market-based and climate sensitive. Moreover, India has embarked on a major biofuel programme which has huge investment opportunities. Biofuel has the power to create a balance between the environment and economic development.
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