Pradhan invites investors to join India's renewable energy journey

New Delhi: Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, has invited investors, developers and businesses to be part of India's renewable energy journey.

He assured them that it will be a highly rewarding and mutually beneficial venture.

In the valedictory address at the third RE-INVEST 2020, he said that India is progressively becoming a favoured destination for investment in renewables.

During the last six years, over $64 billion investment has been made in renewable energy in India, the minister said.

Pradhan said that India has a very liberal FDI policy in energy sector, including renewables.

"Foreign investors can either invest on their own or enter into joint ventures with an Indian partner for financial and/or technical collaboration for setting up of renewable energy-based power generation projects," he said.

The minister said that "ease of doing business" is the government's utmost priority.

"Our continuous focus is on maintaining sanctity of contracts and safeguarding investments. We have established dedicated Project Development Cells (PDC) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cells in all ministries for handholding and facilitating domestic and foreign investors."

Adequate measures and safeguards have also been undertaken to address the concerns of businesses and investors arising out of the Covid pandemic, he added.

Pradhan said that India is in the midst of a major transformative shift in its energy sector, to end energy poverty in India.