Norway is likely to invest in the Indian renewable energy sector as talks have been going on between the Norwegian Government and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to scale up solar power-based village electrification projects in states such as Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
Both will collaborate and co-fund a solar-based rural electrification project that aims at developing sustainable and scalable business models to accelerate a large-scale roll-out of community solar power plants (CSPPs) in India. So far, Norway has invested about one third of Rs 170 million in the ongoing projects, while MNRE’s contribution stood at Rs 54.2 million. As part of the pilots, different solutions are being tested with regard to technology and local revenue models, as well as different cooperation models with local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and entrepreneurs.
