SEMI India, an organisation that serves the interests of the solar PV industry, has welcomed the announcement of new Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JN-NSM) guidelines for the selection of grid-connected solar photovoltaic power projects.
“These new guidelines are a positive step that will enhance the selection of 350 Mw of solar PV projects under the JN-NSM. Solar has a transformational role to play in meeting India’s energy needs while also presenting a tremendous opportunity for growth in the manufacturing sector in India,” it said.
The new guidelines fall into the “Phase 1, Batch II” category and are applicable to solar PV projects that will be selected during 2011-2012.
Debasish Paul Choudhury, president, SEMI India, said, “The newly-announced guidelines will pave the way for the country’s leading Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to participate in and exploit the benefits of scale with the cap per developer going up to 50 Mw. The increase in the size of projects was a key recommendation that SEMI highlighted based on a stakeholder survey exercise we conducted earlier this year.”
Solar manufacturers and developers are facing several challenges in the country. Financing is expensive and hard to secure for solar projects and questions persist around the bankability of documentation that developers need to submit to secure financing. Government payment security schemes and loan guarantee schemes are starting to address the situation, but more remains to be done.
“If interest rates may be brought down, through priority lending to the solar sector, the Indian solar industry will see huge growth avenues,” added K Subramanya, CEO, Tata BP Solar and chairperson of SEMI’s India PV Advisory Committee.
