Investment in clean-energy projects grew faster in India than in any other major economy last year, rising 52 percent to $10.3 billion, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
The largest increase came from the solar industry with $4.2 billion of funding for sun-powered plants connected to the grid, a seven-fold increase from 2010 and about par with the $4.6 billion that went to wind projects, according to a statement today from the London-based researcher.
“There was concern at the beginning of last year that increasing lending rates might hit investment,” Ashish Sethia, head of India research for New Energy Finance, said in the statement. Renewable energy’s increasing cost-competitiveness and favorable government policies helped overcome that, he said.
Asset financing accounted for $9.5 billion of the total, while private equity and venture capital firms invested $425 million, New Energy Finance said. In 2011, India added 2,827 megawatts of new wind capacity, making it the third-biggest market after China and the U.S. Its solar capacity rose to an estimated 277 megawatts from 18 megawatts in 2010 and could surge this year to more than 1,000 megawatts, it said.
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