According to the 11th New and Renewable Energy five-year plan recently proposed by the government of India, from 2008-2012 the renewable energy market in India will reach an estimated US $19 billion. Investments of US $15 billion will be required in order to add the approximately 15,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy to the present installed capacity. The government of India has planned a subsidy support system of approximately US $1 billion in government funds. This amounts to adding renewable energy capacity at 1 Watt per US $1, with potential subsidy support of US $0.07/Watt.
The Indian government by 2012 expects renewable energy to contribute 10% of total power generation capacity and have a 4-5% share in the electricity mix. This implies that growth in renewable energy will occur at a much faster pace than traditional power generation, with renewables making up 20% of the 70,000 MW of total additional energy planned from 2008-2012.
Financial assistance is available in various forms, such as direct installation subsidy, feed-in tariffs, tax rebates, and low interest loans. Increasingly Indians are seeing a shift away from subsidizing installed capacity and towards subsidizing power generation with feed-in tariffs and tax rebates. For example, wind energy developers can take 80% accelerated depreciation, sales tax exemption, excise duty exemption and income tax exemption for up to 10 years. Preferential tariffs are being worked out at the state level. While the new framework for supporting renewable energy generation is evolving, most of the direct subsidy has thus far been designed for installed capacity.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in India has also provided funds for town and city level renewable energy planning. This local information infrastructure, comprising of local awareness, urban design, laws and smooth functioning processes, is an important step towards integrating renewable energy into economic life, and improving power delivery in the last kilometer. In addition to improving investment opportunities, this may also bring about greener, better designed and less polluted cities. With the expected growth in this sector, the availability of technically trained personnel may become a hurdle for further growth in the coming years. Thus, an opportunity exists for educational and training institutions to introduce new courses, curricula, and training for students to work in this emerging job market in urban and rural areas.
This move from the Indian government is a very wise move considering the increasing global warming threats. It will surely help to improve the energy shortage and reduce pollution.
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