The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) needs higher budget allocation to provide low-cost funding to such business for scaling up their rooftop solar capacity , a joint report of Deloitte and Climate Investment Funds (CIF) said on Wednesday.

The MSME sector is expected to contribute significantly to the government’s target of building 40 GW of rooftop solar capacity by 2022, according to the report.

But lack of low-cost funding, inadequate level of awareness and lack of rooftop aggregation models are some of the hurdles it faces.

“However, it presents a great opportunity. A multi-pronged approach involving supportive regulations, risk-bearing financing and awareness building is needed to demonstrate viability and help scale up rooftop solar in the sector,” said Abhishek Bhaskar, Energy Specialist, CIF.

The MSMEs surveyed in the report were from sectors such as automobile components, textiles, food products and beverages, pharmaceuticals, paper and paper products and rubber and plastic products.

“A walk-through survey of 150 MSMEs depicted the willingness towards adoption of rooftop solar applications, but strengthening an enabling ecosystem will be critical for its proliferation,” says Tushar Sud, Partner, Deloitte.

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