IREDA aims to achieve book size of ₹3.5 lakh crore by 2030, emphasises asset quality improvement

According to CMD Pradip Kumar Das, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has significantly improved its asset quality over the last four years. Speaking at the RE-INVEST 2024 Summit in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Das highlighted that the company’s non-performing assets (NPAs) have come down from 7.2% in March 2020 to 0.95% in June 2024. Looking ahead, IREDA plans to increase its portfolio size to around ₹3.5 lakh crore by 2030, with a focus on maintaining a balanced portfolio to preserve asset quality.

Das noted that IREDA’s current account balance stands at ₹62,000 crore, of which 58% is classified as low-margin vanilla loans, 18% is allocated to riskier emerging sectors and 24% are government accounts, which typically have no NPAs. He highlighted that most of IREDA’s growth has come in recent years, with 85% to 95% of its business coming in the last decade — 70% of which has been achieved in the last four years.

On energy needs, Das pointed out that every 1% increase in GDP requires a 1.25-fold increase in energy production, especially since India is growing at 7%. He appealed to developers and lenders to focus on due diligence, monitoring and valuation to ensure the quality of project assets. IREDA has approved over Rs 2 lakh crore and financed Rs 1.31 lakh crore in its 37-year history.

Das also highlighted emerging energy sectors, including green hydrogen, green ammonia, pumped storage, battery storage and electric mobility. He noted that while solar and hydropower projects have become less demanding compared to 20 years ago, private sector involvement in renewable energy projects will only increase if the challenges are addressed and the business environment ensures transparency, sustainability and profitability.

At the same event, Jörg Marius Ebel, president of the German Solar Association, praised India’s efforts in deploying solar energy. He stressed the importance of combining rooftop solar with other renewable energy solutions to achieve better results. Ebel also stressed the need for a stable regulatory framework and investments to ensure growth in the renewable energy sector, describing the reliance on thermal energy as obsolete with the advent of decentralized energy systems and demand management.