Indian minister touts solar opportunity for Japanese firms

[PïXëL]

Japan's Softbank, which has major solar plans in India, will also soon close on a US$100 billion technology fund. Twitter: Piyush Goyal

India’s expected four-fold rise in energy demand over the next 15 years will open “immense business opportunities” for Japan in the energy sector in India, according to Indian energy and mines minister Piyush Goyal.

Today, Goyal met with Japan’s minister for economy, trade and industry, Hiroshige Seko, at the 7th India-Japan Energy Forum in New Delhi.

Encouraging India-Japan cooperation, Goyal is looking to bring Japanese expertise in engineering and technology to India in order to enhance grid stability – a major upcoming bottleneck for solar in India – and to introduce affordable electric transport.

Analyst firms widely expect India to race into third place in the global solar deployment rankings in 2017 by taking over Japan, which has been a staple solar market for some time, but which does not currently have the same pace of growth as India.

However, Goyal also said that India’s rapid renewables boom will need stabilising through gas and coal-based power, both of which can benefit from more cooperation with Japan. He said that as India has a price-sensitive market, it cannot afford expensive power generation so the balance between renewables and conventional generation needs attention.

Japanese firm Softbank has already expressed its mission to add 20GW of solar power in India through partnership with Bharti Enterprises and Foxconn. A Softbank spokesman told PV Tech that the firm will soon close on a US$100 billion technology fund, having attracted investment from various internatinal heavyweight companies and certain sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East. However, the spokesman did not confrim whether the fund will relate to the firm’s solar plans within India, despite other reports suggesting this is the case.

It was Softbank’s huge announcement of plans to enter the Indian solar market that kicked off a spurt of key investment plan announcements from foreign firms back in the second half of 2015.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/indian-minister-touts-solar-opportunity-for-japanese-firms

 

[SBUS-CXK]

Very practical topic - India can't even make solar panels.

 

[Chanakyaa]

Very practical topic - India can't even make solar panels.

Its like saying US cant make the iPhones !

 

[PïXëL]

Very practical topic - India can't even make solar panels.

https://thewire.in/24787/indias-solar-panel-dispute-a-need-to-look-within/

The ‘Make in India’ initiative took a new hit when the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel ruled that India cannot discriminate between foreign and domestic suppliers of components for solar panels used by solar power developers in India. A closer look at the case reveals that we are not allowed to discriminate. That being the case, what’s the way forward?

Outcome of the decision

On February 24, a panel of the WTO found that India’s domestic content requirements (DCR) under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) violates its commitments under the global trading rules, specifically the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Agreement on Trade Related Investment Measures (TRIMs).

The JNNSM was launched by the government in 2010 in order to “establish India as a global leader in solar energy, by creating the policy conditions for its diffusion across the country as quickly as possible”. In order to boost the capacity of indigenous industries, the government mandated the solar power developers to use cells and modules manufactured in India in different phases of the project and the government would, in turn, buy the electricity thus produced at a fixed rate for 25 years.

The United States argued, and the WTO panel agreed, that by imposing DCR, India accorded imported solar cells and modules less favourable treatment than similar products manufactured in India.

India argued that the measure was exempted from the scrutiny under the WTO agreements because the government ultimately procured the electricity so produced and thus be treated as government procurement. However, the WTO panel, relying on earlier cases, held that the product procured was electricity, whereas, the product discriminated against was the inputs used to produce electricity and hence the exception did not apply.

India also sought to justify the DCR under the general exceptions provision of the GATT, specifically claiming that the measure was justified as it was necessary to secure compliance with international environmental laws or regulations, specifically its commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and also because solar panels were in ‘general or local short supply’.

Both arguments were rejected by the WTO panel, which stated that international environmental obligations imposed no binding commitments on nations and thus they were not ‘laws or regulations’ that had to be complied with. It also found, and India acknowledged, that that the cumulative supply of both foreign and domestic cells and modules was sufficient to meet the demand of power developers.

 

[SBUS-CXK]

Its like saying US cant make the iPhones !

No, India can make Intex and Micromax.
But you also need to know a Chinese company - TINNO

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinno

India may be able to make solar panels, but you need to know who provides technology. India solar panels are expensive... Because he needs to pay a large sum of money to the supplier.

 

[banvanaxl]

Very practical topic - India can't even make solar panels.

Why must you remain a 50 cent troller? Read, learn, research and then comment and criticize if you must. There are quite a few learned members from China. They contribute and criticize constructively and have gained our respect. Follow their lead if you must, but stop this ridiculous charade.

 

[punit]

WELCOME CHINESE Brothers .. feel free to derail the thread. @Oscar

 

[Guynextdoor2]

Its like saying US cant make the iPhones !

Just IGNORE the asshole instead of falling for trollbait

 

[SBUS-CXK]

Why must you remain a 50 cent troller? Read, learn, research and then comment and criticize if you must. There are quite a few learned members from China. They contribute and criticize constructively and have gained our respect. Follow their lead if you must, but stop this ridiculous charade.

Sorry, I just left TOI (times of India). Have some bad mood.

 

[艹艹艹]

But India is still improving coal production.
Coal India 2017-18 production target at 660 million tonnes: Official
https://defence.pk/threads/coal-ind...target-at-660-million-tonnes-official.471125/

 

[Theparadox]

But India is still improving coal production.
Coal India 2017-18 production target at 660 million tonnes: Official
https://defence.pk/threads/coal-ind...target-at-660-million-tonnes-official.471125/

Well major cities Delhi, Mumbai have more than sufficient energy but few villages in states like Chhattisgarh are still in dark. India's aim is to decrease dependency on coal & decrease import but these places need electricity too. Our gov. has planted various networks throughout the nation and some villages are getting electricity for the first time. Meanwhile we are working on to double the electricity given to Nepal too. So our demand is increasing more faster than our effort to decreasing dependency on coal. But after some time it will become constant that's why we are aiming for 2030.