Indian Prime Minister to sign £10Bn solar deal

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi will today sign £10Bn worth of trade deals.

Lead British solar companies are urging the Government to recognise global opportunity and back the domestic industry.

Solar Trade Association member, Lightsource Renewable Energy, have made an investment of £2Bn, meaning that Lightsource will design, install and manage around 3GW of solar power infrastructure in India over the next five years.

Mr Modi is visiting the UK as the British solar industry reels from Government plans to make drastic cuts to the sector which has already resulted in companies going into liquidation and jobs being lost. The Lightsource deal will bring £42M in revenue to the UK and create 300 jobs, whilst also benefiting hundreds of families in India.

Nick Boyle, the CEO of Lightsource Renewable Energy, said: “We are delighted to be announcing this investment in India. The Government in India has ambitious plans to electrify India and Lightsource will contribute significantly to that goal. India will be a key market for Lightsource in the future. We are excited to be working with Srei, our first partner, who will be helping us towards achieving our solar PV deployment goals in India.”

The Prime Minister’s visit precedes the UN Paris climate conference where he will launch his International Agency for Solar Policy and Application initiative. He has invited 110 nations to join the initiative, which is expected to attract $100Bn of solar business by 2020 and install 1000GW of solar power by 2022.

Leonie Greene Head of External Affairs at the Solar Trade Association said: “We are delighted for members who are large enough to be able to seize business opportunities overseas. This visit by the Indian Prime Minister, probably the world’s greatest solar advocate, should make British politicians stop and think about what is at stake economically and technologically. While Modi is lining up an anticipated $100Bn of global solar business, the UK is pushing most of its solar industry backwards, leaving us at an international disadvantage. It is not too late for our Government to get fully behind the British solar industry and ensure we take full advantage of global solar markets estimates to be worth trillions of pounds over the coming decades. ”

 

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