Farooq Abdullah seeks international investment in Indian renewable power market

NEW DELHI: Renewable Energy Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah has called on investors to invest in the burgeoning Indian renewable power market with a special emphasis on solar sector.

Dr. Abdullah urged investors, companies, universities and institutions at the CII roundtable conference in Chicago to explore technology-based partnerships and research collaborations with Indian counterparts.

Joint Secretary Tarun Kapoor also outlined wind, small hydro and bio-power, besides solar, as focus areas in which India is looking to build capacity.

Given just over 15 MW of current installed capacity and an ambitious target to produce 30,000 MW of solar power by 2022, India would open up tremendous business opportunities in the field.

The Minister noted that international joint activity would be key to generate synergies for both economies. “We are open to all kinds of business models – whether it is PPP or BOT, you tell us what you are comfortable with”, Dr. Abdullah said, offering full support from the Ministry of Renewable Energy, the Consulate General in Chicago as well as industry associations like CII.

In a country like India, where energy access issues to the “bottom of the pyramid” feature at the top of the energy agenda, sustainable solutions can be found by leapfrogging to cost-effective and reliable technologies.

Dr. Abdullah thus discussed ways to achieve economies of scale and cost reductions, which would be critical to deployment and wide spread commercialization.