Investments in the Indian solar sector declined by 66% and stood at approximately $2.8 billion (~₹203.17 billion) in the calendar year (CY) 2020, compared to $8.2 billion (~$595.02 billion) in 2019, according to Mercom’s Q4 2020 and Annual India Solar Market Update.

Out of the total investments, utility-scale solar projects attracted investments of nearly $1.19 billion (~₹86.35 billion), while rooftop projects saw investments of $356 million (~$25.8 billion) in 2020.

There were no significant investments in the cell and module manufacturing segment due to the impact of the COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown. The pandemic brought the solar supply chain to a halt, impacting investments adversely.

Deal Highlights 

Some of the deals that grabbed the headlines in 2020:

• Gujarat-based solar monitoring and analytics platform Prescinto announced that it had raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Venture Catalysts, an integrated incubator for startups.
• Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), a development finance institution and a KfW Group subsidiary, pledged $10 million in funding to Indian solar energy company Avaada Energy Private Limited.
• Convergent Finance LLP, a Maharashtra-based investment firm, announced that it had invested ₹2 billion ($27.2 million) in solar glassmaker Borosil Renewables through a qualified institutions placement (QIP) of equity shares.
• ReNew Power, an independent Indian power producer, raised around $325 million (~₹23.58 billion) through overseas green bonds.
• Bengaluru-based renewable energy platform Ayana Renewable Power raised $390 million (~₹28.6 billion) in the latest funding round. The CDC Group-UK’s development finance institution, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), and EverSource Capital announced equity funding of $70 million (~₹5.1 billion), $284 million (~₹20.8 billion), and $36 million (~₹2.6 billion), respectively.

Mercom will host a solar summit on April 08-09, 2021. The summit will dig deep into issues relating to domestic manufacturing, supply chain, financing, and policy and address how they will affect the market outlook for 2021. The summit has a range of interesting topics on the agenda. Register for the event here.