View Point
Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group
“While net zero targets are much needed, a company’s sustainability initiatives must be aligned with the nation’s sustainability goals. One must recognize that India has already demonstrated its commitment through the bold stand taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since the 2015 COP21 summit and India has emerged as one of the most responsible major nations in the world when it comes to addressing climate change. However, at the heart of any nation’s sustainability journey lies the principle of equitable growth, and a net zero number unaligned with a nation’s development agenda may end up creating greater disequilibrium across the global sustainability initiatives. We are putting money where our mouth is, and the portfolio companies of Adani are leading the way with investment plans to honour the nation’s commitment.”
Gautam Adani said this while speaking to business leaders on the sidelines of the UK’s Global Investment Summit. Organized by the UK government, the Global Investment Summit was held on October 19, 2021, at the Science Museum, London. It featured Prime Minister Boris Johnson, members of the royal family, British MPs, technologists and global investors.
Prabhajit Kumar Sarkar, MD & CEO, Power Exchange India Ltd
- Oct 7, 2021
“Under the leadership of the Ministry of Power and with the contribution of all key stakeholders spanning various arms of the Government of India, Regulatory bodies like CERC and SEBI and organizations like PXIL and others, a ten year old regulatory jurisdiction issue regarding power markets has now been fully clarified and resolved. It is a significant achievement by the Ministry of Power in bringing together all the stakeholders and in a cooperative manner lead the resolution of this hitherto intractable issue.
This paves the way for introduction of various delivery-based contracts with longer duration on PXIL. distribution companies and other large consumers would be able to utilise such contracts to better plan their portfolio requirements in a more efficient and transparent manner. Such contracts effected through the power exchange would ensure payment timeliness and guarantees.
Financial contracts including electricity derivatives can also now be launched by exchanges regulated by SEBI, thus paving the way for suppliers and consumers to hedge their power transaction risks effectively. This is a major inflection point for the power sector and especially the power markets in our country and we look forward to serving all power consumers in the most efficient manner.”
Prabhajit Kumar Sarkar expressed this view shortly after the Supreme Court order of October 7, 2021, that settled the long-pending dispute between SEBI and CERC on the issue of regulatory jurisdiction of electricity derivatives. (Read background story)
Also Read: Exclusive T&D India interview with Prabhajit Kumar Sakar (July 2021)
Animesh Damani, Managing Partner, Artha Energy Resources
- Sep 19, 2021
“The new recommendation by the GST council, increasing the proposed tax to 12 per cent for renewable energy projects, will create a fresh set of challenges for the sector to address. Compared to the earlier 5 per cent, this is a significant increase and is bound to impact both the ongoing and upcoming projects.
N. Venu, MD & CEO, India and South Asia, Hitachi ABB Power Grids
- Aug 24, 2021
“The National Monetization Pipeline is likely to be positive for the chosen sectors if it is orchestrated well, with seamless regulatory support and the right ecosystem to meaningfully monetize the assets.”
Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Managing Director, CLP India
- Aug 13, 2021
“Congratulations to the country on crossing 100 GW of renewable energy capacity. This certifies our position as one of the leaders in the Energy Transition of the World. This is also a testament to the power of big ambitions and ideas, and the power of leadership of the Prime Minister and this government. Barely 10 years back, a 100 GW Renewables number would’ve appeared fanciful!”
(Rajeev Ranjan Mishra expressed this view on India’ very recently crossing the milestone of 100 GW of installed renewable energy capacity.)
A.M. Naik, Group Chairman, Larsen & Toubro
- Aug 5, 2021
The outlook for FY 2021-22 is one of cautious optimism, with the country’s GDP regaining positive territory thanks to the base effect in the first half, followed by robust growth in the second. We therefore believe the recovery is ‘delayed’ and not ‘derailed’.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Power
- Jul 5, 2021
“From a growth perspective, the company has a clear plan with focus on renewables and distribution businesses.
Within the renewables segment, the company continues to build both the renewables’ utilities and consumer renewables businesses. As a utility-scale generator of renewable energy, the company continues to grow its EPC solar business. The company intends to add additional capacity to grow to 15 GW size in the coming few years. The Company currently has the highest ever EPC order book and is expanding solar cells and modules manufacturing capacity. It was also won over 1 GW renewables capacity projects during the year.
In the power distribution segment, under challenging operating environment, the company successfully completed the acquisition of three distribution license areas in Odisha and one more in April this financial year. In the first year itself, strong progress has been made and total number of consumers has increased to 12 million. The company now distributes power in Mumbai, Delhi, Ajmer and entire state of Odisha.
The company is on an ambitious path of sustainable growth. It would continue to evaluate various growth options in both renewables, transmission and distribution businesses.”
This quote has been extracted from the Chairman’s speech delivered at the 102nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Tata Power held on July 5, 2021, via video conferencing. All references to “the company” in the quote stand for Tata Power.
Animesh Damani, Managing Partner, Artha Energy Resources
- Jul 2, 2021
The recent announcement regarding the Amendment to the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020 is a clear misdirect at the behest of discoms to embellish the real update – the reduction of the net metering cap.
N. Venu, Managing Director & CEO, Hitachi ABB Power Grids in India
- Jun 15, 2021
“Making EVs more affordable is a positive move but policy has to also account for the ecosystem that enables EVs. Charging infrastructure development requires a significant boost in the country through government support and intelligent power technologies. If the country is to achieve its 30 per cent EV adoption target by the end of the decade, it will have to operationalize a nationwide network of accessible charging infrastructure.”
Dr Hitesh Doshi, Chairman and Managing Director, Waaree Group
- May 4, 2021
“We welcome and appreciate the Government’s announcement on the PLI Scheme. The Government has taken this step to push manufacturing in India, which is certainly the need for the country’s solar sector today.