Page 144 - CW E-Magazine (25-6-2024)

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INFRASTRUCTURE BUILDS

‘Strong demand drives robust investment in India’s

energy transition and transportation’

Moody’s Ratings (Moody’s) says Roads and ports get investment Kadam, ICRA’s Senior Vice President
that India’s infrastructure companies boost, says ICRA and Group Head, Corporate Ratings.
will be spending on energy transition Meanwhile, ICRA, an affi liate of
to meet demand resulting from the Moody’s in India, forecasts increased The government has also planned
country’s relatively strong economic spending on transportation infrastruc- a large capex under its Maritime India
growth. However, government policies ture projects, including on roads, ports Vision 2030 to augment port capacity
and stable regulatory frameworks will and airports over the coming years, and infrastructure over the next decade.
support credit quality. benefi ting from solid government sup- This could bring about supply-demand
port, rising capital outlays and a large mismatches in a few clusters, resulting
Moody’s estimates that India’s tar- pipeline of projects. in increased competition and pricing
get of 500-GW of renewable energy pressure for ports. ICRA expects cargo
(RE) capacity by 2030 will require ICRA expects India’s Government volumes to grow 6%-8% in the current
$190-bn to $215-bn of investment over to maintain a strong focus on road fi scal year on the back of healthy growth
the next seven years, while another sector investments through increasing in the container and coal segments,
$150-bn to $170-bn of investment capital outlays. The Ministry of Roads, although lower trade volumes driven by
will be required for electricity transmis- Transport and Highways’ (MoRTH) slowing global economic growth and
sion and distribution as well as energy budgetary allocation for the sector has geopolitical tensions remain key risks.
storage. increased by more than 8x over the
past decade to Rs. 2.7-lakh crore in Investments in airport infrastruc-
“The sizeable pipeline of announced fi scal 2025, refl ecting a 22% compound ture will also remain healthy at around
projects will keep the fi nancial leverage annual growth rate. Rs. 55,000-crore to Rs. 60,000-crore
of renewable power companies rated by of committed capex over the next 3-4
Moody’s high over the next 2-3 years – “India’s road construction will likely years. Overall passenger traffi c at air-
a credit negative – but the leverage of grow 5%-8% to 12,500 km-13,000 km ports will likely grow at a healthy 8%-
government-related issuers will remain in fi scal 2025, following a robust 11% to between 407-418-million pas-
moderate over the same period, given expansion of around 20% in fi scal 2024. sengers in fi scal 2025 from fi scal 2024,
their relatively strong balance sheets,” This pace of execution will be supported supported by a strong pickup in leisure
said Mr. Abhishek Tyagi, a Moody’s by a healthy pipeline of projects, and business travel, better connectivity
Vice President and Senior Credit increased Government capital outlay to newer destinations in the domestic
Offi cer. and greater focus on project comple- segment and the continued uptick in
tion by MoRTH,” said Mr. Girishkumar international travel.
“We expect the strong growth in
India’s RE capacity to continue, although Gruner Renewable Energy to set up
coal will remain a major source of
electricity generation over the next compressed biogas plant in Gujarat
8-10 years,” Mr. Tyagi added.
Gruner Renewable Energy said it nual production of over 16,000 tonnes
Strong policy support has helped will set up a compressed biogas (CBG) of biogas, Gruner Renewable Energy
India increase the share of RE in its plant in Gujarat at an estimated cost said in a statement.
power capacity mix to around 43% in of Rs. 220-crore. The CBG plant in
fi scal 2023, which ended March 2023, Navsari is expected to produce 44-tpd “Gruner Renewable Energy, in
and fi scal 2024. Continued policy sup- (tonnes per day) of CBG using cost- collaboration with a leading business
port will help the country make signifi - effective feedstocks such as paddy, press- conglomerate, is all set to establish
cant progress toward its 2030 transition mud, canetrash and of municipal solid Asia’s largest compressed biogas plant
targets and 2070 net-zero goals. waste (MSW). This equates to an an- in Navsari, Gujarat,” it said.

144 Chemical Weekly June 25, 2024

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