RE-Invest 2020 to take place from Nov 26 to 28: Sources

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the event on November 26

• The expo was earlier scheduled to be held in October 2019, but it was postponed to 2020 "due to unavoidable circumstances"

New Delhi: The government has decided to hold RE-Invest 2020, the 3rd Global Renewable Energy Investors' Meet and Expo, virtually from November 26 to 28, sources aware of the development told PSU Watch on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the event on November 26. The expo was earlier scheduled to be held in October 2019, but it was postponed to 2020 "due to unavoidable circumstances," the MNRE had said at the time.

The government had floated an RFP (Request for Proposal) on April 21 this year for the development, implementation and management of an interactive IT platform to conduct RE-Invest 2020 in digital space.

RE-Invest 2020 won't focus on attracting investments

According to sources, like the second RE-Invest, the third edition is likely to be focussed on discussions over issues facing the sector rather than on raising funds. When the event was first launched in 2015, the focus was also on attracting investments from global investors in the solar power sector. However, the second edition was more focussed on open-ended discussions on the state of the solar power industry and the format is likely to continue this year, said sources.

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The backdrop

The decision to hold the event virtually was taken in April this year. Commenting on the development, Dr Megha Pushpendra, Lead, Strategic Communication, ISA (International Solar Alliance) had said, "Earlier we were expecting a huge global footprint because ISA is a part of it. And we were expecting that we would have industry delegations from at least 85 ISA member countries. But then because of the COVID situation, we were deliberating whether to carry the event on and make it happen or drop it altogether. But then once we saw the kind of interest that stakeholders have in a unique position that renewable energy has in the ecosystem, we thought that we should not let the dialogue die. And in order to keep the dialogue going, technology step-up was the only solution that was available with all of us. So, this digital platform was envisaged."

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