Renewable energy certificate mechanism in India: A preliminary assessment

The Indian National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) envisages several measures to address global climate change. One of the important measures identified involves increasing the share of renewable energy in total electricity consumption in the country. This would mean NAPCC envisages renewable energy to constitute approximately 15% of the energy mix of India by 2020. To achieve the target set by the NAPCC, Indian Ministry of Power launched Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) mechanism in November 2010. However, participation in the REC markets is low and RECs have failed to attract significant investment so far.