BT India@100 Summit | 'We are in right country at right time': Vineet Mittal, other industry heads talk about investing in renewables in India

BT India@100 Summit: As India has set a target of having 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, experts and industry heads in the renewable sector feel the present situation is best in terms of investment and scaling up. Speaking at the second edition of BT India@100 Summit, experts said the country is going through a huge transition and is witnessing the fastest growing capacity in renewable energy.

"As an investor and an entrepenuer, we are in the right country, right industry and at the right time. Because across the value chain of the industry, there is an opportunity," said Avaada Group Chairman Vineet Mittal.

"India is witnessing a never-seen opportunity. India is doing something differently by bringing in the electric part. Electricity from water, sun, nuclear. All this will help us in developing clean energy. Opportunities are huge in this regard," said Schneider Electric India MD and CEO Deepak Sharma.

On Saturday, top industry heads, such as Tata Power CEO and MD Dr Praveer Sinha, Avaada Group Chairman Vineet Mittal, Schneider Electric India MD and CEO Deepak Sharma, and Deutsche Bank Group MD and ESG Head for Asia Pacific Kamran Khan, were discussing their views and challenges in the sector at the session: A Bright Future Powered by Renewables.

Earlier this week, Power Minister R K Singh said renewables will account for 65 per cent of the country's energy mix by 2030.

India has 186 GW non-fossil fuel-based installed power generation capacity at present, the Union Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy said.

"In 2015, we planned to have 40 per cent renewables in our energy mix by 2030. We achieved the target in 2021, nine years earlier," he said, adding that the share of renewable energy in the total installed power generation capacity will be 65 per cent by 2030.

Currently, India has 423 GW of installed power generation capacity. The country will need 40 GW more electricity this year as the country's power demand grew by 14 per cent, the minister had said.

Talking about technology and intervention needed in the sector, Tata Power's Dr Praveer Sinha said" "Today we are depended on one type of solar panels. We need to see alternate ways to produce solar panels, like nanotechnology using organic materials. Similarly, batteries. We need to see the alternate ways of manufacturing batteries. Same for nuclear power. I feel a lot of technology interventions needs to come so that the pace of change increases." 

Mittal added: "Indian manufacturers are geared for the challenge as they can go completely green. We are not completely dependent on solar with solar wind and water batteries. We can send green electrons to the grid and it becomes a dispatchable power."