India set to become a global renewable hub backed by foreign capital

As the world continues to grapple with the energy crisis, India with its size and unique climatic conditions, is aggressively boosting its renewable sector after Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year announced that New Delhi will achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.

A host of countries are now looking to increase investments for renewable energy in India even as issues related to payments, land acquisition and grid access continue to pose a challenge.

According to OilPrice.com, an energy news portal, foreign investors have been partnering with local energy producers in India to fund the development of the country’s solar power sector. India has already received funding from Singapore, Norway, and Abu Dhabi among others.

In a report, it said that greater levels of domestic and foreign investment could see India becoming a major renewable energy hub over the next couple of decades.

The website pointed out that some of the perks of investing in India, as opposed to other Asian markets such as China, are the potential of owning up to 100 per cent of any renewable energy project in which a foreign company has a stake and a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).

India’s steady economic growth has led to a rise in energy consumption. India’s annual CO2 emissions are now the third highest in the world. The International Energy Agency however pointed out that India’s CO2 emissions per person “put it near the bottom of the world’s emitters, and they are lower still if you consider historical emissions per person.” The same is true of energy consumption: the average household in India consumes a tenth as much electricity as the average household in the United States, the IEA said.

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