The Government of India has identified Nagpur in the state of Maharashtra to be developed as the first 'solar city' in India. It doesn’t stop there, the ministry of New and Renewable Energy proposed to develop 60 such cities during the 11th Plan Period. At least one city in each state to a maximum of five cities in a State will be supported by the Ministry.

But one needs to ponder upon the debate that just being ambitious isn’t enough to transform the existing energy infrastructure into a solar oriented one.

The solar city dreams will need a huge contribution from the semiconductor industry. But the semiconductor industry seems to be disillusioned with the government initiatives.

In a recently concluded India Semiconductor Association vision summit here in Bangalore, a senior industry official said not a single solar plant proposal lying with the Government has yet been implemented.

He said: “It doesn’t make any sense for the government to plan big as it hasn’t been able to pass any of the earlier proposals. The government is still sitting on the solar plants’ proposals. As a result, the companies are losing interests.”

The report published by the Indian Semiconductor Association (ISA) jointly with a Frost Sullivan study indicates the fact that despite of the efforts made through policy changes and incentives, there has been a complete failure to create an ecosystem for nurturing electronics manufacturing within the country.

The government has possibly shortlisted four solar plant proposals - Titan Energy, Moser Baer, KSK Energy and Solar Semiconductor. But, no formal clearance or letter has been issued from the Government’s side.

The business leaders stressed  the needs and opportunities in the solar space and urged the industry and government to focus more on the energy vertical.

Infosys Co-Chairman, Nandan Nilekani, Co-chairman urged the industry to use technology to address developmental issues  which would need to enhanced target on subsidies better, and most importantly to promote energy efficiency and improve healthcare.

The Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Deepak Gupta has reportedly said that the government has identified Nagpur and Chandigarh to use as the launch of the ambitious Solar City project. He also added that municipal corporations of both cities would submit blueprints for the projects within four to five months.

But the investment aspects have not yet been finalised. Gupta says that part will come into picture only after drawing out the master plans.

Financial support up to a maximum $190 million (Rs.9.50 crore) will be available to each of these Model Solar Cities for implementation of the Master Plan developed under the scheme from the Ministry.

Throwing some light on the affordability of a solar power and accepting it as a better alternative to electricity, K Srinivas said:  “We should think ahead of the ‘expensive’ factor and adapt non-expensive models”.

At the ISA vision summit, speakers touched upon the solar industry which is still largely untapped by the semiconductor players. The primary focus was on the material science to core PV cell makers. The consensus was that the solar is the way to go to fulfill the energy demands of world.

The market leaders in the semiconductor space are expecting to take over solar industry due to its immense potential by 2011-12.

The emerging Indian solar industry has great potential though comparing to the global standards, the growth pace still lags behind. The primary reason for this slow pace is the lack of adequate investment in solar PV manufacturing and R&D in India. X

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