Current trends of Renewable Energy
Solar photovoltaics is the fastest growing area in the energy sector. Of the US $71 billion invested in renewables worldwide in 2007, 30 per cent was in solar PV. According to market analysts, between 2007 and 2011, this industry is poised to grow at a whopping 73 per cent. By March 2007, India had 120 mw of installed PV capacity. However, less than 2.5 MW is generated by grid-connected solar power plants. The rest is generated through stand-alone systems like solar street lighting (about 70,474), home lighting (4,02,938) and solar lanterns (6,70,059).
The government has several schemes supporting and subsidizing various kinds of solar power systems.The emphasis is on encouraging manufacturing and industry rather than on installations as solar PV manufacturing is capital intensive.
Through the special incentive package scheme, the government offers capital subsidies to state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing and related units, including solar PV. Eligible semiconductor “fab” projects must have a net present value of at least Rs 2,500 crore. The subsidy available is 25 per cent of the capital expenditure; it is 20 per cent for projects in a special economic zone. The response was good. “Most of the manufacturers who have applied under the scheme want to invest in photovoltaic technology. Proposals roughly worth Rs 1,40,000 crore from 14 manufacturers are lying with the ministry of which 12 are photovoltaic manufacturers” said K S Chari, director in the Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the nodal ministry. Most of the proposals have been forwarded to a technical evaluation committee and decision is expected “shortly”. Continue reading »
Filed under Environment, India, Renewable Energy | Tags: California, Climate Change, Energy Policy, Germany, India, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Solar Water Heaters, Statistics, Subsidies | Comment (0)Pyrrhic Victory
The US steals Kamal Nath’s party in Geneva
The trade talks at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva collapsed in the last week of July. The Union minister for Commerce, Kamal Nath, said India would not accede to the demands of developed countries at the cost of Indian farmers. Nath seems to have become a hero in many quarters in the country and in other developing countries—and a villain amongst developed countries for allegedly scuttling free trade negotiations. But in reality, he has virtually complied with all conditions of the wto agriculture text, including almost zero farm subsidy reduction by developed countries. And the talks actually collapsed because the us did not want to make any commitment to cut massive subsidies to cotton growers. Continue reading »
Filed under Agriculture, India, News | Tags: * Imports, Agriculture, Cotton, Developing Countries, Farmers, India, Subsidies, Switzerland, Trade, United States Of America (US), WTO | Comment (0)On Tenterhooks in Geneva – Developing countries push for markets at WTO Mini-Ministerial
Developing countries push for markets at WTO mini-ministerial
Farmers’ associations all over India were holding protests demanding exclusion of agriculture as an agenda in the World Trade Organization (wto) talks, even as the organization’s mini-ministerial debated ways to secure “meaningful market access in agriculture, manufacturing and services”. At the time this magazine went to press, farmers’ groups were apprehensive that the Union minister for commerce might sign a deal at this meet in Geneva allowing the entry of cheap agricultural products from the developed world. “That would be the last nail in the coffin of small farming in India,” said Sheelu Francis of the Tamil Nadu Women’s Collective, an organization representing over a lakh agriculture workers in the state.
The draft for negotiations for the Geneva ministerial—the third draft on the matter—did not accede to most demands of developing countries, the principal one being substantial cuts in subsidies offered to farmers in the us and European Union. These subsidies end up lowering prices of agricultural products in the developed countries below the production cost of farmers in developing countries, giving the former unfair market advantage. Continue reading »
Filed under Agriculture, Environment, India, News | Tags: * Imports, Agriculture, Developing Countries, European Union (EU), Farmers, Food Security, India, Subsidies, Trade, WTO | Comment (0)