A set of entrepreneurs and big companies are making sure the solar revolution pays as it accelerates, says Anindya Upadhyay

Rahul Gupta could not manage to get a job in 2010 when he graduated from IIT Roorkee. This March his company, Rays Power Experts, will clock a combined turnover of Rs 600 crore in four years of its existence. At 27, Gupta has 125 employees working under him and is already preparing to compete with well-established companies to bid for large solar parks.Gupta's story suggests that solar energy sector is no more only about preserving the planet. It also makes great business sense.

Solar energy makes business sense for small entrepreneurs as well as big corporate houses such as Tata and Adani. The dwindling cost of producing energy from the sun has made a compelling case for big companies to start up businesses. The government has plans of installing 100 GW of solar power in India by 2022, instead of an earlier target of 20,000 MW, which itself looked ambitious once upon a time. Thus, solar energy has transitioned from being merely corporate social responsibility to opening up a sea of opportunities within a span of four to five years.

R at u l P u r i , ch a i r m a n of H i ndu st a n PowerProjects, will add 2 GW of solar power over the next two years by investing Rs 12,000 crore, adding to his portfolio of thermal and hydroelectric power. In fact, according to Puri, more conventional power producers like him will in the next few years start investing heavily in renewable energy.The solar revolution, meanwhile, is not confined to setting up megawatts and large solar parks. It finds its best application in the remotest Indian villages where transmission lines and government agencies haven't reached in almost seven decades..............Read more

 

Source web page: The Times Of India