Background

This event is being organised to share the recent developments witnessed in India as regards implementation of new and innovative business models and mitigating options for financing barriers besides sharing of international experience in implementing Rooftop Solar (RTS) in SMEs and residential sector. The key takeaways from this event will encourage national and international stakeholders to adopt and adapt these business models to accelerate RTS implementation across developing nations. SMEs and the residential consumers are the twin challenging beneficiaries / end users who can significantly benefit from Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) through Rooftop Solar solutions. “Prosumers” from SMEs and residential sector can achieve low cost of electricity and at the same time actively support the Distribution Companies in optimizing their cost of service besides improving the quality of power supply. Government of India has made an impact in solarizing the residential consumers under its USD 1.6 bn incentives based Phase-II of RTS programme which was launched during August 2019. DISCOMs across the country adopted this Phase II programme and have facilitated installation over 1.5 GW of residential rooftop solar projects. Further DISCOMs have also received incentives from MNRE for demonstrating progress in yearly installations of rooftop solar projects. To support the path laid by MNRE and to enable a holistic development of the ecosystem and in the light of challenges constraining RTS installations, the World Bank extended a concessional credit line of USD 625 Mn to State Bank of India (SBI) to finance RTS projects in India. So far, SBI has sanctioned USD 378Mn for a portfolio capacity of more than 600 MW projects in Commercial & Industrial segment including MSMEs. With MSMEs contributing 30% of the GDP and roughly half of the exports through its 63 million units, their electricity cost is estimated to comprise up to 20% of total operating expenses. Solar Rooftop can significantly reduce the operational costs of MSMEs, thereby increasing their competitiveness. Despite this positive outlook, the current penetration of solar rooftop is only around 1GW against the significant realizable potential of 16-18 GW. The low penetration of Solar Rooftop in MSMEs is due to several barriers, for instance, high upfront installation costs, inability to access debt due to low or no credit rating, regulatory uncertainty, and low awareness. Addressing these barriers can encourage adoption of solar rooftops by MSMEs. The side event will feature MNRE, the World Bank, SBI, DISCOMs, Financing Institution / NBFC, International Experts who will share their rich experience and discuss potential key interventions that could enable an accelerated deployment of rooftop solar in India in these two key sectors.