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April 20

India solar industry not threatened by SunEdison Piyush Goyal

India’s solar industry wouldn’t be affected by a potential SunEdison Inc. bankruptcy, according to Indian power minister Piyush Goyal.

“I don’t think it deters us or deflects the success of the solar program at all,” Goyal said at a media briefing in London Tuesday. “If one or two companies fail, there will be others who can take their projects.”

SunEdison, the world’s biggest clean-energy company, was credited with bringing tariffs to record lows in India at a government auction in November. It’s now said to be seeking to sell as much as 1 gigawatt of unfinished projects while preparing to seek protection from creditors, according to people familiar with both matters.

There are about 50 companies operating in India’s solar industry, and some have bid lower prices than SunEdison, according to Goyal.

“Investors need not be worried about it,” he said. “Bankers are not worried about it and there is enough interest in the market for much larger volumes than they have taken up in India.”

Goyal also said he’s open to the idea of implementing solar tariffs in US dollars and is considering pricing them in euros and yen, as well.

India has set a target to raise its renewable power capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022. The goal is for 100 gigawatts to come from solar, 60 gigawatts from wind, 10 gigawatts from biomass and the remainder fro

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