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IREDA step towards integrated development of villages and rural area

Shri Pradip Kumar Das, Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) reiterated that IREDA is committed to take forward the Prime Minister’s vision of integrated development of villages and rural areas.

IREDA step towards integrated development of villages and rural area
IREDA

New Delhi: Shri Pradip Kumar Das, Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) reiterated that IREDA is committed to take forward the Prime Minister’s vision of integrated development of villages and rural areas. In his address at an online training program on “Financing Renewable Energy in Agri Infrastructure Projects” for officers of NABARD, CMD emphasized  that the big dream of India becoming a five trillion economy cannot be achieved without development of rural economy as well generating employment in rural India. In realizing this vision, Renewable Energy can play a key role in the Agriculture sector by supporting Installation of 10,000 MW of decentralized ground-mounted grid-connected RE Power Plants under PM-KUSUM Scheme.

 

The training programme was organized through virtual mode by the National Institute of Banking Management (NIBM) for mid and senior-level officers of NABARD. Addressing the participants, CMD highlighted that total employment in the RE sector today is 5 to 7 lakh direct jobs and more than 50 lakh jobs in an indirect manner. Most importantly, the bulk of these jobs have come up in rural & semi-urban areas and 90% of RE projects have come up in rural areas, propping up the rural economy.
 
 
Highlighting the current energy mix, CMD said that the all India installed power generation capacity, as on September 2020 is more than 373 GW, out of which, renewables accounts for about 134 GW (36%). The Thermal is still dominating with about 62% of the overall power generation capacity but over the years the share of Renewable Energy Capacity has been rapidly increasing & RE is now the mainstream source of energy for the country. The Large Hydro, Wind & Solar constitutes about 46, 38 & 36 GW, respectively. 
 
 
CMD, IREDA enlightened the participants on project appraisal, challenges which are being faced by RE industry, the mechanism to reduce  NPAs, sector-wise key financial indicators like- average DSCR, project IRR, payback period and asset coverage ratio, etc.
 
 
Speaking about IREDA’s phenomenal growth, CMD underlined that IREDA had graduated from megawatts to gigawatts in terms of supported renewable energy capacity addition. IREDA as on date has financed more than 2700 renewable energy projects in India with cumulative loan disbursements to the tune of Rs. 56,928 crores, and has supported green power capacity addition of 17,259 MW in India. He urged that considering the huge potential, India is well positioned to lead the world in the domain of renewable energy. International Solar Alliance (ISA) which is an coalition of 121 countries and first of its kind international organization have also set up its headquarter in India.
 
 
Speaking on new and emerging technologies of the RE sector particularly the Eclectic Vehicles (EV) segment, charging infrastructure, etc, CMD emphasized that the primary focus of this transition should be on commercial vehicles. In India, the adoption of EV is likely to grow with commercial vehicles rather than in passenger vehicle space. He further said that creating a robust charging infrastructure is going to play a key role in success of   EV segment and therefore there is a strong need for a standardization of policy for charging stations across the country.  
 
 
Concluding his address, CMD wished for successful completion of the training program and reaffirm IREDA’s  commitment  to play a pioneering role in providing credit access for RE projects.

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