All RE Projects under Implementation to Get Time Extension

In a bid to provide relief to the renewable energy industry amid lockdown in the country, the government has decided that all the renewable energy projects that are under implementation will be provided further time extension for completion.

However, the extension of the time period will be decided after considering the factors such as the time period of lockdown and the time required for the workforce to remobilize.

This information was provided by Anand Kumar, Secretary of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), in a tweet that “all renewable energy projects under implementation will be given the extension of time considering the period of lockdown and time required for remobilisation of the workforce.”

The announcement came in the wake of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a complete lockdown on pan India for a period of 21 days from March 24, 2020 midnight, asserting that it was “very necessary to break the chain of coronavirus”.

The spread of coronavirus has not only disrupted the supply chain of components used in renewable energy projects but also has impacted the availability of workforce.

In this context, the announcement of the extension of time will provide great relief to all the stakeholders in the renewable energy sector.

This decision of the government was widely welcomed by the industry stakeholders. In a quick reaction to the announcement, Vineet Mittal, Chairman, Avaada Group, via a tweet termed it as an ‘Excellent initiative’.

Mittal also suggested to government that “a two pronged strategy is required to ensure minimal disruption. 1). Proactive 3-6 months blanket extension of commissioning timeliness. 2). Negotiating national level deal with China to avoid disruption of supply chain, currency swap and modules pricing.”