OVERVIEW OF THE OPERATING CONTEXT

During the year, global energy supply and demand dynamics added to ongoing volatility and price uncertainty, which impacted the sector. Given these circumstances, we continued to focus our actions on making the Company more competitive and identifying various opportunities to improve our product portfolio.

Global economic environment

The global economy endured headwinds better than expected during the year, although the growth momentum slowed down. The global economy grew 3.4% in 2022 with nascent signs of recovery seen in the second half of the year. In 2023, global growth is estimated to slow down to 2.8% and improve slightly to 3.0% in 2024 (World Economic Outlook April 2023 – IMF). Central banks across the globe have resorted to rising policy rates to tackle inflationary pressure. With strong policy action from various central banks, food and energy prices have come down, but underlying price pressures are proving sticky, with labour markets tight in a number of economies.

India economic environment

The Indian economy continues to be resilient and is amongst the fastest growing major economy despite a tough global economic scenario. The Government’s continued thrust on capital expenditure and infrastructure, strong credit growth and resilient financial market continue to support economic activity. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) estimates India’s Real GDP to grow by 6.5% in FY 2024.

Geopolitical tensions

Global energy and commodity supply chains have been disrupted due to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict during the year. Increasing protectionism and geopolitical tensions are threatening to constrict growth and lead to more financial instability.

Push to infrastructure

The Indian government has been giving a massive push to the infrastructure sector, which was also one of the seven key priorities. Budget 2023-24 has expanded the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) to 8,964 projects across 47 sub-sectors. Through NIP, the government has already planned an investment pipeline of USD 1.4 trillion towards infrastructure development.

Rising demand in India’s power sector

Power demand in India has been growing on account of sustained economic activity and extreme weather patterns. Demand in FY 2023 at 1,512 BUs grew by 9.6% YoY and was highest in last 30 years, Progress on the Smart Cities project and overall infrastructure in the country will continue to further boost demand for electricity.

Volatile commodity prices

Prices of commodities were volatile during the year driven by geopolitical tensions and global macro situation. Central banks globally raised the rates to tame the inflation which still remains to be a concern in many regions.

Need for renewable energy

India has always exhibited its commitment in fighting climate change and achieving targets for net zero carbon emissions by 2070. The nation has set a bold ‘Nationally Determined Contribution’ (NDC) target under the Paris Agreement to reduce emissions intensity of its GDP by 45% from 2005 baseline, and to achieve 50% of installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy source by 2030. Increasing the share of renewable energy is an imperative in achieving NDC targets and net-zero carbon emissions by 2070. India is the world’s third-largest producer of renewable energy with current installed capacity (including large hydro) of 172 GW.

Regulatory environment

India’s regulatory framework has been supportive of the green transition. It also supports new-age businesses with a slew of incentives around domestic solar photovoltaic module manufacturing, green hydrogen and advanced chemistry cell and sets policies around storage projects and ancillary services. Overall, the regulatory environment in India bodes well for the energy sector.