India’s private discoms have been at the forefront of recent smart grid development. Both wholly-owned and public-private discom consortiums, have invested in advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), IT, and automation solutions to reduce network losses and improve grid reliability. This has improved the commercial basis for the industry which has faced many challenges to due legacy pricing issues.
Year 2017 witnessed various developments in the renewable energy sector in terms of growth, which was fueled by policies, reforms and investments given that it is one of the focal areas. The continued government support and improved economics attracted more investments in the developmental growth of the sector.
The structural changes introduced by the government last year augur well for the Indian economy in the long term. The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will have a positive effect on the overall health of Indian economy, especially when accompanied by further reforms. Focused reforms on doing business have helped India move up the rankings on ‘Ease of Doing Business’ by 30 places to 100th position. The expectations from the Union budget 2018-19 are:
We expect the Union Budget 2018 to have significant growth-centric announcements in terms of energy conservation and effectively implementing policies in the adoption of safe, reliable efficient and sustainable buildings.
The years 2016 and 2017 witnessed major policy reforms by the government of India, including GST implementation, a boost to the renewable sector and some specific financial push to the overall infrastructure segment of the country. We expect the upcoming financial year to reap benefits of the investments and initiatives made by the government in the last few years.
The government can propose “Priority Sector” lending status for home loans up to certain limits in metros and non-metros; metros with higher slab and non-metro with a lower slab. This would help people to get access to funding at a cheap cost. This would spur the growth for real estate industry. Today the industry is hard-hit and availability and access to the funds is very difficult.
India is all set to become the most-populous country in the world by 2030. An anticipated increase in urban population of 500 million people during 2010-2050 in megacities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Kolkata will pose a huge challenge to meet the electricity demand. Smart LED lighting is the only solution to address the power shortage for lighting purposes which leaves less carbon footprint as compared to conventional lighting solutions such as CFLs, halogens and incandescent lights.
We welcome this initiative by the Government, as it is bound to increase employment and help achieve the required energy security in the country. The duty will give the necessary boost to solar cell and module manufacturers, and help protect the industry from the long standing challenge faced due to dumping.
I am very excited to share with you the partnership with Energy Efficiency Services Ltd or EESL, acompany that finances residential and public-sector energy efficiency investments in India. EESLhas already deployed more than 275 million LED bulbs, 4.2 million LED tube lights, and 4 million street lights in municipalities throughout India.
Tushar Gupta shares his view point on a recent Nielsen study on LED bulbs available in the Indian markets.