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By Mercom Communications India Private Ltd.
The 3rd Renewable Energy India 2009 Expo held in New Delhi, India on Aug
10-12, 2009, had an impressive turnout from around the world. The
event echoed the mood of the renewable energy industry in India, upbeat,
yet uncertain. The participants were very excited about the future of
renewable energies but were unsure about the effects of the global
recession and the support the renewable energy sectors will receive from
the Government of India.
Mr. Deepak Gupta, India's Secretary for the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy, commented, "The Government is likely to roll out a
plan to add 20 gigawatt solar-based power generation capacity by the
year 2020. The solar mission has been approved in principle, now we
have to work on the roll-out. Hopefully, we will go to the Cabinet in
the next couple of months so we can roll-out the plan this calendar
year."
Indian companies are of the opinion that the investment interest in the
industry is strong but government support is critical at this point.
There were many Indian companies which commented that the demand in
domestic markets for PV needed to be boosted rather than be dependent on
the export markets.
There was a good showing of international companies looking to take part
in the future of India's renewable energy markets. The conference
hosted pavilions for Germany and the U.S., and there was good attendance
from companies representing China and Taiwan as well as a few other
European countries. As expected, Solar was the predominant sector at
the conference; however, representation of Wind companies was
commendable.
From a regional perspective, Gujarat and Rajasthan were the two Indian
states that stood out in their efforts to encourage the clean energy
drive. Both of these state governments have laid out aggressive plans
to bring clean energy to every household in their respective states.
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