Foreign participation shrinks at India's renewable energy expo

Participation of foreign exhibitors, including China, has come down to around 25 per cent at the 16th edition of the Renewable Energy India Expo against an average of 45 per cent earlier.

This year size of the Chinese contingent has shrunk due to visa issues amid the prevailing situation between India and China, Informa Markets India's senior group director Rajneesh Khattar said.

China is the dominating player in solar energy worldwide, he noted.

However, the void has been filled by home-grown domestic entrepreneurs with the expo being held in Greater Noida -- turning out to be the largest ever in terms of size and scale, he said.

'Traditionally, over the years we have seen around 45 per cent international component (participation). This year, as everyone knows, Chinese companies and citizens have not been able to get visas due to the political situation between the two countries. So, because of this, we have seen the loss of China,' Khattar told PTI.

'However, home-grown Indian entrepreneurs have filled up that void this year with their participation at a large scale and rise up to the occasion. This year, the event has grown to its largest scale so far. If we talk about this year, we have 25 per cent international participants and 75 per cent domestic participants, and we are very happy with the domestic contribution,” he said.

The senior group director said the REI Expo has a German pavilion and an Italian pavilion, and all partner countries from the past are continuing in this edition also.

'But yes, the Chinese contingent, which used to participate in large numbers till last year, has not been able to come this year. Let's see how it goes the next year,' he added.

Yogesh Mudras, the managing director for Informa Markets India, said the ongoing 16th edition of REI Expo is the 'largest” of all their editions so far in terms of scale.  'The increased participation of domestic exhibitors will also help achieve the Make In India goal,' Mudras said, referring to the government's initiative to transform the country into a global manufacturing hub.  Being held along with the first edition of 'The Battery Show India', over 700 exhibitors and more than 900 brands have converged for the Expo, which is expected to attract around 40,000 visitors over three days.

Italian Trade Commissioner Alessandro Liberatori said, 'The Indian market is the most promising market for the world in coming years'.

At the REI Expo, participants from countries like Germany, Italy, France, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Turkey, and Cambodia have set up their stalls to exhibit their products and services related to green energy solutions.

Though Chinese representation has gone down this year, it still has maintained a notable presence.

'Our international participation has come down this year for the simple reason because China has dominated the solar industry worldwide. They are the pure dominating players. Their annual individual capacity addition is more than the total cumulative capacity of India,' Khattar claimed.

'But we know, right now there are political issues between India and China and so Chinese nationals have not got visas for entry to India. Chinese companies could not participate because their people could not travel. We do have some Chinese participants but these are those who either already have offices in India or had their colleagues travel in from other parts of the world like Vietnam,' he said.

The three-day-long Renewable Energy India Expo and The Batter Show India are being held at the India Expo Centre and Mart in Greater Noida.