Improving further in this year's 'Renewable energy country attractiveness index' (RECAI), India has overtaken the US to be at second place with China on top. According to the Ernst & Young’s (EY) RECAI, government’s strong support coupled with increasingly attractive economics helped the county to move up to second spot from third position which it held for the last two years.
The report has said that government's program to build 175 GW in renewable energy generation by 2022 and to have renewable energy account for 40 per cent of installed capacity by the end of 2040, have contributed most to the upward trend, noting that the country has also added more than 10GW of solar capacity in the last three years - starting from a low base of 2.6 GW in 2014.
The report also suggested that the government needs to increase compliance with the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) as well as ensure that country's distribution companies, many of which are financially distressed, have the capacity to continue to purchase renewable electricity, especially if bid prices level off or rise and the government could ease rules around tapping foreign debt to make capital available. Besides, it said that the government's additional emphasis on photo voltaic (PV) parks will help to plug the gap, but it needs to do more to encourage rooftop solar installations.