India is currently in the midst of national elections, also considered as the world’s largest exercise in democracy. The high stakes and the ongoing prediction points out that Mr. Narendra Modi, a supporter of renewable energy, is tipped to become the next prime minister of India.
Mr. Modi has already been credited with solid results for renewable policy implementation in the state of Gujarat (where he is Chief Minister), with pundits now talking about a solar power revolution in India should Mr. Modi be elected into power. Going by the demand in energy-hungry India, solar power or “sunny side up” seems to be a very likely solution to the current ongoing energy crisis in India, with this energy literate minister all set to bring in some disruptive transition measures to live up to his party’s manifesto that indicates a national solar power revolution.
#India might be getting its first #energy literate Prime Minister. Time for some disruptive measures? Time for a transition?
— Jasmeet Khurana (@jasmeetkhurana) May 2, 2014
An article by Bridge to India, a strategic consulting company operating in the Indian solar market, talks about the very likely move that India will soon invite bids for another 1,500 MW of Photovoltaic solar (PV) under the National Solar Mission (NSM) this year. They further point out these new projects are likely to follow the bundling mechanism, similar to phase one of the NSM and unlike the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) mechanism used for the recently issued 750 MW projects.
As per its policy guidelines, NSM aims to roll out 2,320 MW of PV and 1,080 MW of Concetrated Solar Power projects by March 2015 and, accordingly, India’s target of 10 GW of solar energy by 2017 seems very much achievable.