(a) whether the Government has taken steps for enhancing domestic manufacturing capacity and capability of renewable energy equipment, if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government provides/proposes to provide low-cost financing to support the domestic manufacturing sector and if so, the details thereof; and
(c) whether the Government has taken steps to improve global competitiveness of the domestic players, including promoting research and development and if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR POWER, COAL & NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a),(b)&(c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
Statement
Statement referred to in reply to parts (a),(b)&(c) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 331 for answer on 19.03.2015 regarding Manufacturing of Renewable Energy Equipment
(a) & (b) :The details of initiatives being taken by Government to promote large scale manufacturing in the renewable energy sector of the country include provision of domestic content requirement in various schemes to source solar cells and modules of domestic origin; exemption of customs and excise duty on input raw material required for manufacturing of cells and modules; capital subsidy for manufacturers under Special Incentive Package Scheme (SIPS) & Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) by Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DietY). Manufacturing units may also be set up under the Solar Park scheme launched by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). MNRE has proposed 175 GW power capacity from various renewable energy sources by the year 2022 which will also enhance demand for greater domestic manufacturing of renewable energy systems/devices in the country. Further, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), along with other banks and financial institutions, strives to finance the projects in the renewable energy sector at affordable interest rates.
(c) :Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has set up three institutes, namely,National Instituteof Solar Energy (NISE), Gurgaon, Haryana; National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), Chennai, Tamil Nadu and SardarSwaran Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy, Kapurthala, Punjab for carrying out Research and Development (R&D), Testing and Demonstration for development and promotion of renewable energy technologies/systems. NISE is collaborating with National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA; Loughborough University, U.K. and National Metrology Institute (PTB), Germany for various aspects of R&D and testing in solar energy. NIWE collaborates with National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA; RISO-DTU, Denmark; TUV Rheinland and GIZ, Germany; and Vortex Corporation, Spain to strengthen R&D, certification and resource assessment. Besides, MNRE has been supporting R&D projects to National Laboratories/Universities/Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) to improve efficiencies of renewable energy devices and systems that help improve global competitiveness of domestic players.