Green Ahead

"India Needs To Install 90 Gw Of Solar In Five Years" Says Priyadarshini Sanjay, Managing Director, Mercom Communications India, in conversation with R Srinivasan.

- R Srinivasan

Kindly comment on the solar scenario especially since solar tenders and auctions have slowed in India and what will be the ramifications of these developments?

Since September 2016, tenders have slowed down for IPPs. Discoms are currently in a wait-and-watch mode since solar tariffs are constantly falling. They want to procure solar at the cheapest rate and they are sitting back and waiting for tariffs to keep dropping which is causing everybody to postpone tenders and auctions. Tenders cannot be delayed indefinitely and many developers who have invested millions in anticipation of increased activity to meet government goals are beginning to panic. Markets don’t react well to uncertainty and foreign investors are going to conclude that India is not a stable market that can meet its set goals unless tender and auction activity picks up again.

The latest record low tariff is Rs 3.15 per kilowatt hour (kWh) and is expected to fall below Rs 3 a unit during auctions for the Bhadla solar parks in Rajasthan. To what extent are fears, that it may affect smaller players in the market, justified?