Banks asked to support RE projects
The Ministry of Power and New & Renewable Energy will follow up with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in a move to get the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to lend more for RE projects and held RE developers access easy finance.
The RBI is being asked to remove the priority sector lending limit for RE sector, setting for an easy access to financing for projects, said the Ministry on 10 June 2019 after the MNRE Minister of State R K Singh held a meeting with industry stakeholders.
In the meeting, Singh also asked the Banks/Financial Institutes to categorize RE as separate sector different from power sector so that funds would flow to RE projects.
He further said that current tariff rates discovered for various RE projects are viable as the maintenance/running cost of RE projects is very less in long run.
Singh also added that with time, the cost of RE technology is coming down whereas the efficiency of RE equipment is improving day by day.
“So, the low tariffs are not an aberration,” added the Minister, calling on banks to come forward to lend to RE sector.
On the issue of delays in land acquisition for RE projects, the Minister said that Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) will be tying up with State Governments for the land.
As the land will be on lease, therefore there would not be any upfront payment for the land.
It will also tie up transmission while floating bids.
Banks/Financial Institutions were asked to tie up with SECI for offering predetermined loans to successful bidders.
Department of Revenue is being requested to place appropriate proposal before the GST council related to GST on RE equipment and components.
The issue of inverted duty structure also came up for discussion during the meeting.
The Minister pointed out that every measure needs to be taken to promote manufacturing in RE sector in the country, including corrections of duty structure and approval of a scheme to provide capital subsidy.
Also discussed during the meeting was a pilot project to promote solar energy for cooking in houses. fiinews.com
