US clean energy and financing companies must capitalise on the enormous opportunity in India's renewable energy sector, Power Minister Piyush Goyal has said.
Laying out government's vision for reaching the ambitious target of 175 GW of clean energy by 2022, he addressed the concerns and challenges faced by investors at a gathering of US companies in this area.
"US clean energy and financing companies must capitalise on the enormous opportunity in India," Goyal said at the meeting organised by CII and ACORE (American Council On Renewable Energy) in Washington DC, according to a statement by the Indian industry body.
On issues related to the fiscal health of distribution companies in India, he said the government is looking for a long-term and sustainable solution to the issue which will be implemented soon.
On the rupee's decline against the US dollar, he pointed out that the Indian rupee has never depreciated more than 3.5 per cent CAGR in last 25 years.
Goyal said that a number of stalled projects are being cleared and urged US companies to be a partner in this process and help with innovative solutions.
He asked them not to miss out the tremendous opportunity in India, which is set to become the largest clean energy market in the next 10 years.
"USD 150 million of financing is required in the clean energy space of which USD 100 million will be debt and USD 50 million will be equity. The US can play a big role in this space in India," Chairman and CEO, ReNew Power Ventures Sumant Sinha said.
The meeting came just before the US-India Energy Dialogue and the US-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue which are further expected to boost the bilateral partnership, days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's much anticipated second visit to the US at the end of the week.
The CII and ACORE signed a pact to bolster co-operation in the clean energy sector through facilitation of dialogues between industry experts, the development of platforms for cooperation as well as to exchange policy recommendations and best practices.
The US companies that attended the meeting included, SunEdison, Bank of America, First Solar, Credit Suisse, Apex clean energy, Sun Power, Deutsche Bank etc.
A CII CEOs delegation, including Preetha Reddy, Apollo Hospitals; Kiran Mazumdar Shah, Biocon; Shiv Khemka, Sun Group; Rajan Navani, Jetline Group; Pranav Tanti, Suzlon; Rahul Munjal, Hero Future Energies; Kishore Nair, Welspun Energy participated in the event.
