Grant to boost solar energy

The Centre will soon provide a helping hand for entrepreneurs to set up domestically engineered solar power plants. There would be an interest subsidy on loan interest for solar projects provided the components are sourced from domestic producers.

Updated on: Apr 2, 2012, 02:05:25 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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The Centre will soon provide a helping hand for entrepreneurs to set up domestically engineered solar power plants. There would be an interest subsidy on loan interest for solar projects provided the components are sourced from domestic producers.

The ministry of new and renewable energy is working on a new interest subvention or subsidy scheme for solar projects

even though the US had objected to procuring components from domestic producers under Phase-I of the National Solar Mission and had threatened to move World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the clause.

Gireesh B Pradhan, secretary ministry of new and renewable energy told HT about the possibility of interest subvention scheme for the Phase-II of the mission, in which 4,000 MW to 10,000 MW of solar energy is targeted. The Phase-I of the mission is under implementation since 2011.

India has potential of generating up to 100,000 MW of power from renewable sources but the high investment required in the sector is said to be the biggest hindrance.

“Investment in renewable is steep for return. If the government fails to support solar energy projects many of them will become enviable,” Pradhan said and added the interest subvention will help in making these projects more viable.

The world’s highest cold desert, Ladakh, may be the new hub generating solar power.

The ministry is working on a project to set up approximately 250 MW of grid connected solar power, labelled as “solar heaven” of India.

A transmission link connecting this region to the national grid would allow the solar power generated in this area to be wheeled out , the secretary said.

Other states would also be getting their share to tap solar potential.

States like Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan have shown interest in setting up of mega solar thermal power plants of 500 MW as compared to biggest generation of 100 MW from a unit.

To fast track implementation, Pradhan said the states would be asked to provide land free of encumbrances and connectivity before the projects are sanctioned.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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