Accelerating the investment in and deployment of renewable energy (RE) technologies in India will significantly help to address the challenge of global climate change, promote economic development and reduce poverty. But for clean energy technologies to have a tangible and enduring impact, there are policy, technical and financial barriers that must be overcome. Governments and the private sector must work together, and act decisively, to recognise these barriers and implement actions and solutions to overcome the barriers that lead to accelerated uptake of RE and DG.

This project was endorsed by the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP) Renewable Energy and Distributed Generation Task Force (REDGTF) and received funding contribution from the Australian Government. The aims of the project were to identify the barriers and opportunities to accelerated investment in the development and deployment of RE technologies in India and to determine areas of enhanced collaboration between APP partner nations; in particular Australia and India.

Findings

The findings presented here are a summary of results from a survey and consultations with over 200 RE professionals and offer a contemporary snapshot of appropriate near term actions that could be implemented to accelerate the uptake of RE in India. The main findings of the survey and consultations identified the following barriers:

1. There is a need for clear consistent long-term government RE policies to guarantee investment certainty and RE project viability. 95% Agree

2. Subsidies for conventional fuel sources (such as coal) cause price distortions and disadvantages for RE technologies. 85% Agree

3. The legal/regulatory environment is weak or unclear creating uncertainty for RE investors and developers. 69 % Agree

4. RE technology-specific barriers (such as intermittent supply, low conversion efficiencies and storage problems) affect the economic feasibility of RE projects. 74% Agree

5. There is a lack of early stage debt and equity financing for innovative RE companies seeking to commercialise their technology. 73% Agree

6. Small and medium RE project developers find it difficult to obtain capital from financial institutions at affordable rates. 62% Agree

7. A lack of financiers experienced in dealing with the risk profile of RE projects affects the successful financing of new projects. 73% Agree

8. There is a lack of RE industry information (such as successful case studies and investment grade data) avail able to investors, financiers, developers and policy makers. 73% Agree

9. There is a general lack of awareness and skills to develop RE technologies and projects amongst financiers, investors, policy makers, developers and consumers. 68% Agree

10. There is a general lack of understanding of Indian busi ness culture and how to build partnerships and trust. 70% Agree