Interviews

There is low capital being infused and solar projects have large capital requirements. We are competing with China, where the smallest capacity is 1 GW and every player has at least 3-5 GW installed. But, we can only compete with them if the government gives us similar kinds of incentives.

From our perspective as a solar panel manufacturer, there are challenges regarding Indian made solar cells. Firstly, cells manufactured in India are 15-20 per cent costlier and less efficient as compared to imported ones. Secondly, there are supply constraints fon account of limited manufacturing capacities.

The industry is making concerted efforts in the area of skill development. Recently, IEEMA conductor division has deliberated on the possibilities of a training centre in Silvassa. PARFI´s (PanIIT Alumni Reach in India) model for upgrading skill for the proposed training centre was discussed.

For it to be truly attractive to ´Make in India´, power quality and energy efficiency should be deeply ingrained into our manufacturing. There remains a lot of scope in the field of reactive power compensation, power quality

The demand for capacitors has definitely gone up in the last few years, partly because of a push from utility companies to charge on KVA consumed. We have also seen a lot of smaller businesses

There is a paradox with regards to the pace and quantum of growth in transmission and distribution as compared to growth in generation, as although progress is happening on the transmission front, the current transmission infrastructure is highly inadequate and imbalanced.

Renewable energy is set to change India´s energy and climate future. In the last two years, we have seen a clear transition from RE playing a complimentary role in the energy mix to becoming a vital part of it.

These achievements will certainly be in the best interests of the power equipment sector. There are aggressive plans to add to power generation capacity and this is obviously going to boost demand of all related equipments like transformers, cables, HT switchgear, LT switchgear, black start generating sets, inverters, control systems, turbines, solar panels, transmission equipment, etc.

We have recently seen quite a few new transmission system projects being announced. For e.g. the Rs 10,000 crore North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) and the 800 kV 6,000 MW HVDC Raigarh´Pugalur Transmission project.