A truly bright future for renewables

The key to India's extraordinary success in harnessing cheap solar power has been the competitive tariff-based bidding process, which has given developers full freedom in choosing technology and sourcing products. The public sector Solar Energy Corporation of India of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has just concluded the world's largest renewable-cum-energy storage bid process. The market discovered prices are far lower than expected. With the price advantage now being decisively with renewables, the transition away from fossil fuels could happen far more rapidly than anticipated earlier. India should, hopefully, be in the lead in this regard.