Indian Renewable Energy Status Report: Background Report for DIREC 2010

India has great potential to accelerate use of endowed renewable resources in powering its growing economy with a secure and affordable energy supply. The Government of India recognizes that development of local, renewable resources will be critical to ensure that India is able to meet both economic and environmental objectives and has supported the development of renewable energy through several policy actions. This paper describes the status of renewable energy in India as of DIREC 2010. It begins by describing the institutional framework guiding energy development in India, the main policy drivers impacting energy, and the major policy actions India has taken that impact renewable energy deployment. The paper presents estimates of potential for wind, solar, small hydro, and bioenergy and the deployment of each of these technologies to date in India. The potential for India to meet both large-scale generation needs and provide access to remote, unelectrified populations are covered. Finally, the enabling environment required to facilitate rapid scale of renewables is discussed, including issues of technology transfer and the status of financing in India