Government of India’s commitment to provide ‘Power for All’ and its decision to support green energy transition, marked a new beginning for the country. With solar energy transition promising to save billions ($) in fossil fuel imports, create jobs, initiate technological growth, facilitate industrial growth, and offer the opportunity to claim the export market, developing countries like India need to quickly seize the opportunity and become a solar powered country. And factoring in India’s recent initiatives towards solar growth, we can fairly assume that the country has chosen the right path to social, economic, and industrial revolution, which will illuminate the future of more than 200 million people (who currently live without electricity). Like any industry, there are multiple challenges in countrywide solarisation in India. However, recent taxes and duties levied on growing solar industry must be considered as the biggest challenge in path to India’s most important and impactful transition.
renewable energy industry
The unutilised state of National Clean Energy Fund
The formation of NCEF or National Clean Energy Fund was indeed the right step towards supporting India’s green energy initiatives. The idea was introduced by the Government of India in 2010-11. And upon receiving huge support, it quickly became India’s carbon tax, on coal to generate fund for research and financing clean energy technology. Currently, the name of NCEF has been changed to National Clean Energy and Environment Fund (NCEEF) to support initiatives for clean environment development.
It should be noted that at the beginning, tax imposed on coal on behalf of NCEF was INR 50 per tonne, which eventually ascended to INR 400 per tonne in 2016-17. It is fairly easy to glean from the context that NCEF could have been identified as a very able supporting column for nascent green energy infrastructure of India.
