Taxes Slow India's Solar Power Rollout But Boost Manufacture (apnews.com) 6
An anonymous reader shares a report: In May last year Fortum India, a subsidiary of a Finnish solar developer, won the bid for a solar power project in the state of Gujarat. The project was due to be completed three months ago and would have generated enough electricity for 200,000 homes. But like many other solar power projects in the country, it's been delayed as Fortum India struggles to source and pay for necessary components. "For the last six months, we have not been able to finish developing any new projects," said Manoj Gupta, who oversees Fortum India's solar projects in India. Gupta said solar panels and cells have become obstructively expensive because of protective taxes the Indian federal government implemented in April last year. The basic customs duty imposes a levy of 40% on imported solar modules and 25% on solar cells. The government says it wants to encourage the domestic manufacture of components required to produce solar power and reduce the country's reliance on imports.
But solar developers say homegrown producers, while rapidly growing and being pushed along by policy initiatives, are still too fledgling to meet demand. Current cell and module manufacturing capacity in India is around 44 gigawatts per year, just a fraction of what's needed to meet India's renewable aims. In 2022, India had a target to install 100 gigawatts of solar energy as part of goal to add 175 gigawatts of clean electricity to its grid. But only 63 gigawatts of solar power were ultimately installed last year, according to Indian federal government data. India missed its 2022 renewable energy target by just nine gigawatts. "Without these duties we would have easily achieved our targets for larger solar projects, at least," said Jyoti Gulia of the renewable energy research and advisory firm JMK Research. Most solar developers in India and around the world rely on China, with the nation producing more than 80% of the world's solar components, according to the International Energy Agency.
But solar developers say homegrown producers, while rapidly growing and being pushed along by policy initiatives, are still too fledgling to meet demand. Current cell and module manufacturing capacity in India is around 44 gigawatts per year, just a fraction of what's needed to meet India's renewable aims. In 2022, India had a target to install 100 gigawatts of solar energy as part of goal to add 175 gigawatts of clean electricity to its grid. But only 63 gigawatts of solar power were ultimately installed last year, according to Indian federal government data. India missed its 2022 renewable energy target by just nine gigawatts. "Without these duties we would have easily achieved our targets for larger solar projects, at least," said Jyoti Gulia of the renewable energy research and advisory firm JMK Research. Most solar developers in India and around the world rely on China, with the nation producing more than 80% of the world's solar components, according to the International Energy Agency.
Acceptable shortcomings (Score:2)
While it is very important to shift to renewables it shouldn't be the sole focus. If India wants to insist on using homegrown products then perhaps it's okay missing these benchmarks. It won't continue to miss them forever and when it does catchup, it will have a much stronger local setup to where they will be able to shift to exports once they reach their own demands.
This keeps the money in the local economy. It provides jobs and tax revenue to the government. If you send China (your enemy) all your money,
Re: (Score:2)
Isolationism for the sake of denying Evil Other Countries trade is an old idea, and is likely to hurt you much more than it hurts them. In this case, India is losing great deals of money by not having products that it desperately needs and is unable to make, as well as contributing to global pollution levels.
This is plain and simple corruption, and the politicians have (as usual) sold their sanity for cheap.
Re: (Score:2)
So you also add in the "west" as evil countries since we are actively working to limit China's access to advanced technologies and microchips? I guess if you think China should be in charge, that makes sense. I think I'll just tolerate western governments instead but hey, feel free to move to China so we don't have to see your posts.
Last five stories: India, Japan, China, EU, Moon (Score:1)
Fucking Texas (Score:1)