Renewable

October 9 (Renewables Now) - State-owned mining group Coal India Ltd (BOM:533278) and sector player NLC India Ltd (BOM: 513683) plan to jointly install 3 GW of solar power generating capacity.

The two miners signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday to form a 50/50 joint venture that will build 3,000 MW of solar parks and 2,000 MW of thermal power plants. When it comes to the solar projects, the JV will have 15 months to implement them at a total estimated cost of INR 120 billion (USD 1.62bn/EUR 1.41bn). The debt to equity ratio that will be used to finance the projects is 70:30.

Adding solar power generation will help Coal India become a net zero energy company, which is an objective set by the Union Ministry of Coal, according to the announcement.

Both firms have initiated concept papers to obtain clearance from their respective boards, the statement says.

(INR 10 = USD 0.135/EUR 0.117)