About a decade ago, the government, envisioned renewable energy as a cleaner, sustainable alternative to thermal power, and take several steps to strengthen this sector in a bid to meet the country’s energy needs. Driven by policy reforms, incentives and focused attention from the government, several domestic and international players as well as dynamic entrepreneurs ventured into this sector. These included independent power producers (IPPs), power utilities, diversified business houses, equipment manufacturers, and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies. Over the years, the government’s continued focus and favourable global economic indicators resulted in rich dividends for a number of these companies. A large number of start-ups also emerged, making significant progress in the early years. However, the renewable energy sector in India has been going through a rough patch of late. Project development has slowed down due to various reasons. With solar and wind power tariffs at record low levels, banks have become wary of lending to developers over concerns about project viability. In this scenario, small companies’ difficulty in raising capital is keeping them away from participating in project auctions, restricting their growth and crippling their ability to refinance loans. The year 2019 saw a number of mid-sized companies and large business groups taking the exit route, and manufacturers becoming wary of investing in this market.

Renewable Watch presents a snapshot of recent developments pertaining to key developers, manufacturers and EPC companies during 2019…

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