R K Singh lauds Budget; renewables players say no policy directives

Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy R K Singh Friday called the Budget 2019-20 "historic, people-friendly and forward-looking" as it provides assistance to all needy sectors while maintaining fiscal prudence.

However, some renewable energy sector players have expressed their disappointment on the Budget, saying it provided no ray of hope as there was no policy directive to promote manufacturing, especially renewables, when there is a scarcity of funding for clean energy projects.

"Interim Budget 2019-20 is historic, it's people-friendly and forward-looking. It provides assistance to all sectors which need assistance at the same time maintaining fiscal prudence," said Singh said in a statement.

He expressed hope that the Budget would be able to bring smile to every face.

The country's electrification success found a special mention in Finance Minister Piyush Goyal's Budget Speech.

The finance minister said: "Till the year 2014, about 2.5 crore families were forced to live the life of 18th century without electricity. Under Saubhagya Yojna, we provided free electricity connection to almost every household. By March 2019, all willing families will get electricity connection."
Citing the International Solar Alliance as example of India's commitment towards clean energy, the finance minister said: "India's installed solar generation capacity has grown over 10 times in past five years. This sector is now creating lakhs of new age jobs."
Commenting on the Budget, Amit Gupta, director of legal and corporate affairs, Vikram Solar, said: "In a situation where there is scarcity of financing options for renewables and manufacturing units are dying a slow death, the Budget provides no ray of hope."
Gupta further said: "The industry was expecting a policy directive from the government to promote manufacturing, especially in the renewable energy sector, in the background of job crisis, which India is facing right now. Surprisingly, this was completely missing from the Budget."