India Clean Energy Investments Rose 13 Percent to $7.9 Billion in 2014

LONDON -- Clean energy investments in India increased to $7.9 billion last year and are expected to surpass $10 billion in 2015.

Investments in clean technologies including solar and wind power rose almost 13 percent in 2014 from a year earlier, according to estimates today from London-based Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That makes India the seventh-largest investor in the industry worldwide, BNEF said. Investments should rise further this year to more than $10 billion, it said.

“Interest in India from domestic and foreign investors has grown in the last six months,” Ashish Sethia, head of South and Southeast Asia at BNEF, said in the statement. “Early signs of policy interventions are positive. Specific yearly installation targets would further help investors.”

The government is looking to raise solar capacity to 100 gigawatts by 2022. In November it said it planned to more than double the share of renewables in the mix of fuels India consumes. That means wind and solar may account for 15 percent of India’s energy supply within five years from about 6 percent now.

India has one of the lowest costs for renewable energy generation in the world, according to the statement, making it more competitive. BNEF expects 2,500 megawatts of new solar capacity this year, with wind installations estimated to rise 22 percent from 2014 to 2,800 megawatts.