The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has revised the Central Financial Assistance (CFA) rates for biomass pellet manufacturing units under the National Bioenergy Program. The program has been promoting the production of briquettes, pellets, and biomass (non-bagasse)-based cogeneration in industries from the financial year 2021-2022 and will be in force to 2025 – 2026. According to the November 2022 notification, the CFA rate for briquettes or pellet manufacturing plants was ₹0.9 million (~$10,767) per MTPH manufacturing capacity with a maximum CFA of ₹4.5 million (~$53,832.6) per plant.

Electric vehicle ride-hailing startup MyPickup raised ₹15 million (~$179,293) in seed funding led by Inflection Point Ventures. MyPickup plans to use the funds to increase its fleet size and efficiency per vehicle and develop an exclusive scheduling and route optimization algorithm, mobile application, brand building, and operations management optimization. The company operates a fleet of seven electric autorickshaws, serving 45 customers. It has been facilitating 800 rides per month and aims to penetrate large apartment complexes within a few micro markets in a city for office and school rides.

The transition towards clean energy is accelerating in India, presenting tremendous opportunities for financing renewable projects. Despite a significant reduction in renewable energy costs over the past decade, substantial investment is still necessary for India to achieve its ambitious net-zero goals. Ensuring the availability of diverse financing options is crucial to sustaining growth in the renewable sector while offering attractive returns to investors. The ‘Mercom India Renewables Summit 2024,’ scheduled for July 25-26, 2024, in New Delhi, will address these critical issues. One of the key sessions, titled ‘Financing the Renewable Energy Sector: Where and How to Secure Funding for the Energy Transition,’ will take place on July 26.

India has taken several initiatives to promote the production and use of green hydrogen, including the setting up of the National Green Hydrogen Mission. How effective are these initiatives, and what more needs to be done to create a green hydrogen ecosystem in India? These and other questions will be addressed by experts at the fourth edition of Mercom India’s annual event, the Mercom India Renewables Summit, on July 25 and 26, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency in New Delhi. The panel discussion titled ‘Scaling Green Hydrogen to Build a Competitive Marketplace’ will explore strategies for making green hydrogen economically viable by discussing the necessary incentives to scale up green hydrogen production and the methods for creating demand from heavy industries like steel manufacturing and oil refining.