Committed to ensuring access to affordable, reliable & green energy for all: IREDA CMD
New Delhi: Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited's (IREDA) Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) Pradip Kumar Das on Monday inaugurated an international online program on "Renewable Energy Management for Cooperatives." The programme is being organised by the Centre for International Cooperation and Training in Agriculture Banking (CICTAB) and VM National Institute of Cooperative Management (VAMNICOM) from July 12 to July 14. This training program is attended by the participants from all the eminent nations of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) over the management of renewable energy.
Das while delivering a key-note address, reiterated that IREDA is committed to take forward the Prime Minister's vision of complete solarisation of at least one city in each state and also participate in the "One Sun, One World and One Grid" plan. In a major initiative towards augmenting renewable energy cooperatives and making Annadata also an Urjadata, the government of India has launched the PM-KUSUM scheme in March 2019 for the enhancement of reliable quality and cheap power availability to the farmer. The government has set a target of 10 GW of decentralized grid-connected renewable energy power Plants on barren land by individual farmers, groups of farmers, cooperatives, panchayats, farmer producer organisations and water user associations.
Underlining the contribution of SAARC countries in reducing the adverse environmental impact of fossil fuel use, IREDA CMD highlighted that each SAARC member country has a unique institutional structure for the renewable energy sector established to satisfy local requirements. Afghanistan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka are having a maximum potential to develop solar power while Nepal and Bhutan are endowed with rich hydro resources. Further, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh being larger countries can aim for a more balanced renewable energy mix of solar, wind, and hydro.
Speaking about IREDA's phenomenal growth, CMD underlined that IREDA had graduated from megawatts to gigawatts in terms of supported renewable energy capacity addition. As of date, IREDA has financed more than 2,900 renewable energy projects in India with cumulative loan disbursements to the tune of Rs 63,837 crore and has supported green power capacity addition of 17,872 MW in India and employment generation by renewable energy the especially in rural areas.
IREDA has reported an all-time high annual profit before tax (PBT) of 570 crore rupees in the financial year 2020-21 that too during the year that was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The loan disbursement of Rs 8,827 crores is the second-highest in the company's history.
Das also emphasized that, unlike commercial banks, IREDA's net NPA saw a sharp reduction of 22 percent (5.61 percent in FY 2020-21 as against 7.18 percent in FY 2019-20), which is a big achievement for IREDA as a non-banking financial company (NBFC).
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He added that ensuring 'Ease of doing Business' is the government's utmost priority, which has resulted in about Rs 5.2 lakh crore of investment in renewable energy across the country in the past seven years. We are following the government's end goal to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and green energy for all, while always keeping the citizen at the center of this transition. The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is a key initiative of India towards making India a global leader in the renewable sector. ISA is the first international body headquartered in India, in Gurugram.
Concluding key-note address, IREDA CMD wished for successful completion of the three days training program and reaffirm that IREDA will continue to play a mother organisation role in the renewable energy sector.
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