From this WSJ article reprinted in the Mint, more on solar power in India: as a result of better tech and falling Chinese solar panel prices, India has become the only country in the world where the cost of solar power generation is lower than fossil fuel alternatives “even with subsidies removed and the cost of construction and financing figured in”. 14% below coal, in fact. According to the article the cost of solar capacity building dropped 84% in 8 years.
But as in many, many cases, the state threatens to derail the whole industry:
…companies have been hit by payment delays from India’s struggling power distributors, mainly state-owned companies that buy electricity from producers and sell it to households. India’s Central Electricity Authority estimated that as of Nov. 30, renewable-energy companies were owed some $1.3 billion in overdue bills…
Some Indian state agencies, hoping solar prices fall lower, have canceled solar auctions when they thought developers were offering to sell power at too high a price.
By early 2019, many developers were starting to pass on solar auctions, threatening the country’s aggressive development timetable. Many developers and analysts now say India is likely to fall behind in achieving its renewable-energy goals.
An environment where contracts can be unilaterally renegotiated and payments can be stopped is not conducive to business.