Latest News | Policies Not Enough to Push SMEs Growth to Meet India's Clean Energy Demands: Report

New Delhi, Jun 25 (PTI) The policies in India are not enough to accelerate the growth of various startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to meet the country's clean energy demands, a new report said on Thursday.

"While India's move towards clean energy transition has led to the emergence of various startups and SMEs, there are only a handful of policies that help accelerate the growth of these companies to meet India's clean energy demands," according to a new report by World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) India.

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It said while almost 140 government interventions focus directly or/and indirectly on clean energy and startups and SMEs, only 38 policies actually target SMEs in the clean energy ecosystem, making it difficult for SMEs to reap the benefits of the provisions, the report said. 

The report 'Clean energy policy landscape in the SME sector' delves into six segments including solar rooftop, electric mobility, energy efficiency, smart energy, waste-to-energy and energy access, that are expected to have a considerable impact across key sectors such as industries, buildings, and transportation.

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"The COVID-19 pandemic and its resultant lockdown has impacted SMEs and start-ups the most, leaving the sector to seek support from the government through policy reforms in order to bounce back and drive clean energy innovations in the country," WWF India said in a statement while launching the report.

"The report suggests practical steps to be taken including credit guarantee and risk-mitigation mechanisms under public financing and augmenting funding under the public sector, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and other avenues that would enable incubators to provide early-stage risk capital to startups," it said.

It recommends to procure at least 20 per cent of capacity (MW procurement target) from SMEs under the DISCOM-led aggregation model in solar-rooftop segment.

"Ensuring passing on the benefits in implementation of solar rooftops to the residential consumers. Lowering GST slab of energy-efficient appliances and setting targets to procure a percentage of energy efficient goods from SMEs for entities such as EESL," the report suggested.

It recommended setting up of short-term targets for electric vehicle roll-out over a time span that helps in achieving the long-term targets.

Speaking about the report, T S Panwar, Director, Climate Change and Energy Programme, WWF India said, “Policy support can be an important catalyst in accelerating clean energy adoption and scale up.  This report maps the clean energy policy landscape in the SME sector, and provides recommendations that not only benefit the innovators but also help the government in realizing its larger vision for the upliftment of the SME sector in the country."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)