The sun rises
Not a single proposal has been cleared by the Indian Renewable Energy Development Authority (IREDA), the financing arm of the Union ministry of non-conventional energy (MNES), in the 2 years since the pompous launch of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF)-World Bank (WB) funded market development programme for photovoltaic (PV) systems and consumer durable like emergency lighting, shop signs and even car air-conditioning systems. The MNES has been going to great lengths to convince the manufacturers that there is a vast untapped urban market for these products. A study commissioned by IREDA reasoned that there is a 1.1 million-strong target group of purchasers for these novel devices. It is also holding up the carrots of lend/lease and hire purchase arrangements that would reduce the high end-cost to the users.
But manufacturers and suppliers are not convinced and would rather await the promised marketing blitz that would proclaim the benefits and advantages of solar photovoltaic devices and systems. Says Varghese George, vice president of Desein Private Ltd at Delhi, a company which plans to invest heavily in PV systems and consumer durable, "There is still no sign of an active and visible campaign for photovoltaics."
However, IREDA officials claim they have created the groundwork and are now in the process of empanelling the financial intermediaries and shortlisting global agencies that could be involved in setting up the training and servicing network. But the ministry is yet to work out a system that could test and certify systems and devices according to the strict WB performance specifications. T K Bhattacharya, who drew up the performance specifications for the programme, reveals, "The Solar Energy Centre set up by the MNES is yet to effectively perform that role." He adds that most of measuring systems are lying unused for nearly 2 years. Without these basics, it might be many a sunrise before the programme can offer any semblance of tapping the rays of the sun.
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