CDM benefit sharing: a need for clarity

When the Government of India ratified the Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), it committed itself to the global movement to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and make a transition towards a low-carbon economy.

To achieve this, the National Action Plan on Climate Change was put in place, stipulating that a minimum of 5% of the total power purchased by power purchasers or distribution licensees (discoms) until 2010 should be from renewable energy sources.

This was to increase by 1% each year thereafter for 10 years. To attract investment in the renewable energy sector, state governments declared various incentives, including offering land at concessional rates and exempting projects from electricity generation tax. At the same time, state electricity regulatory commissions (SERCs) were directed to fix “preferential” tariffs for renewable energy projects.

Akshay Jaitly is a partner at Trilegal in Delhi, where Shailendra Kumar Singh is a senior associate and Anuja Tiwari is an associate. Trilegal is a full service law firm with offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The firm has over 120 lawyers, some of whom have experience with law firms in the US, the UK and Japan.