India's energy sector is booming and if you are not investing in it, you are losing out, said R K Singh, the Union Minister of Power, and New and Renewable Energy speaking at the 4th Energy Transitions Working Group Meeting (ETWG) under India's G20 Presidency in Goa.
Singh said that India has achieved 173GW of power capacity from non-fossil fuels sources and much of the investments have come in from private investors as many of them have confidence in the Indian power system.
The India's energy sector has recorded 9% growth against last year (2021-22) and will continue to be one of the biggest markets in the next three-to-four decades.
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Sounding alarm to the domestic banking systems and financial institutions in India, Singh expressed that banks and financial institutions are "losing out on the biggest market outside of China".
"Because in the next three to four decades demand will remain high which means prices will remain high and therefore the sector [energy] will remain viable so banks should invest in India," he added.
Given the scale of RE expansion in the country, where India has set a target of adding 50GW of RE every year and 500GW capacity by 2030, and beyond RE with Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for promoting manufacturing of solar cells and modules, the minister underscored that India will "remain a destination of choice when people want to buy cells and modules".
Speaking on the need to reorient Priority Sector Lending (PSL), Singh added renewable energy sector should be brought under the ambit of PSL and assured the Power Ministry will soon be working with the Ministry of Finance on that.
Ultimately, speaking of dollar denomination bids, the Power Minister said they will consider dollar denominated bids for the sector as it could help further bring down the cost and developers could take advantage of it.
Govt. keen to partner with the industry for developing green hydrogen ecosystem: R K Singh -