Once the 25-year agreement of SoftBank Energy comes to an end, the Japanese conglomerate plans to invest for free electricity for all
Masayoshi Son, SoftBank chief executive, has announced to provide free electricity to India as part of its promise for free supply to the International Solar Alliance (ISA) member countries. While addressing the second global RE-Invest conference in Greater Noida, recently, the chief said that the company would act on the promise once its power purchase agreement of 25 years with SoftBank Energy, the joint venture of the Japanese conglomerate and Bharti Group, ended.
Citing ‘electricity for all’ vision, which was also the vision of the Indian government, Son said that he was hoping to rethink about his investment plans and give back to the society. India’s ‘electricity for all’ aims to offer access to electricity by all its citizens. Appreciating the country for its potential and supportive government, the chief executive expressed his will to extend his support.
He further added that India required security and independence of energy sources to serve its huge population. According to Son, that the crude oil and coal imports of India stood at $88 billion and $22 billion respectively. Also, the country had observed a 20 per cent hike in petrol prices as well.
Solar tariffs in India
The solar energy capacity has increased eight-folds from about 2.63 GW in 2014 to 22 GW in June 2018. Solar tariffs in the month of July reached the lowest – Rs. 2.44 per unit, thereby making India one of the most desirable nations for solar power generation across the world. The country has aimed to achieve 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022.
International Solar Alliance (ISA)
Launched at the Paris Climate Talks in 2015, the International Solar Alliance is a platform that comprises around 121 countries that are equipped with solar power. Its aim is to generate an investment of over $1000 billion by 2030 to deploy affordable solar power at a huge level.
According to reports, SoftBank plans to make investments worth $60 billion-$100 billion towards solar power generation in India.
