'We need major rebranding of the renewable industry/

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Malini Mehra is a well-known name in corporate social responsibility and sustainability circles the world over. She advises corporates like Unilever, BHP Billiton and Fortis. The founder and CEO of India and UK-based Centre for Social Markets (CSM) is also the architect of Climate Challenge India campaign, which also serves as a platform for launching reports. Its recent report, India: Renewable Energy Trends, has been authored by Fulbright scholar Alexis Ringwald. Malini Mehra, who has edited the report, discusses the issues related to renewable energy in an email interaction with FE. Excerpts:

What are the distinguishing characteristics of renewable energy trends in India?

India is no slouch when it comes to renewable energy. We’ve shown vision in the past with the establishment of the world’s first government department for non-conventional energy in 1982, updated to a ministry in 1992; and have the largest renewable energy programme in the world. That’s the good news. The not-so-good news is that we still have an overall energy balance in the country, which is overwhelmingly fossil-fuel based.

What is holding back a higher growth in renewables in India? Is it lack of political will or economic viability?

The renewables sector in India is alive and thriving. It’s become more diversified and more diffused across different sectors. But moving it from the margins to the centre of our energy system will require attention to some well-known barriers to implementation. These barriers include lack of reliable policies and regulatory measures to promote renewables; lack of suitable finance and business models for long-term investment in renewable technologies; lack of a level playing field for all forms of energy; weak awareness of potential returns from renewable projects among investors; lack of appreciation of wider social, environmental and economic benefits from renewables. The good news is that there are solutions to all of these barriers.

Isn’t economic viability going to be an issue for quite some time?

The economics add up too—if you do them the right way. Take the traditional calculus used by economists. This type of economic calculus is ecologically illiterate because externalities such as environmental and social damage are not factored in. Neither is the carbon price. In the coming years the carbon price will be integral to economic analysis. This will finally help create a more level playing field for renewables that is presently denied by the fossil fuel lobby.

How would you compare India and China in this case?