India to be less dependent on other countries for manufacturing solar energy in a few years: Sterling & Wilson's Daruvala

Khurshed Daruvala, Chairman, Sterling & Wilson Group said that India needs to capture the value chain for making solar energy in the country so that it does not become over-dependent on other countries. Speaking at the Sterling and Wilson-Business Today "Scripting a Renewable Future" summit, Daruvala said India needs to have protectionism in place because if companies in India can manufacture products at a globally competitive scale, then it is the best thing that could happen to the country.

On being asked about the policy changes India needs for that, he said, "If we look at the global scenario, things start when everything is completely ready, pre-planning needs to be done so that everything happens seamlessly. It just needs to be ready to build for a solar project. Creating the infrastructure to be able to build quickly will be crucial for the future.”

On renewable energy financing, he said:“The tariffs seen in Saudi Arabia today from 80 paise to Re 1 and in India, we are at about Rs 2 to Rs 2.30 paise. The capex in India is lower than Saudi. The capex per unit generated is still low in India. This is coming at the cost of financing. International projects are being given dollar loans at much lower rates of interest. So there is no clarity at what stage we are going to come on financing. This is also going to determine solar power in the future.”

Renewable energy storage plays a key role if the country can generate required power, “If we are able to generate solar and feed wherever is required, it will become the cheapest form of power and there is huge potential in such areas. There are EV chargers in place that can capture anything you want. The amount of electricity flowing through an EV charger should be captured.”

On targets of 450 gigawatt by 2050 and net zero target by 2070, he said, “Irrespective of all the challenges, we are the third largest in solar installations globally and a lot of these challenges are being worked upon and if that were to happen, potential would be huge. From a timing perspective, it would be good if we create such infrastructure on time. The Indian companies are trying to make the entire value chain within the country, which also promotes Atmanirbharta.”

There is an urgent need for sustainable supply of raw materials, he said.

“Large corporations will have to play their part for the sustainable supply of raw materials. Doubling capacity every year will only help in achieving those goals,” said Daruvala.