Cos to ink JV deal on 4-GW Rajasthani solar project this mo - report

Dec 2, 2013 - The joint venture deal between the participants in the 4-GW solar project in the state of Rajasthan will be signed this month, the Press Trust of India (PTI) said Sunday.

Tarun Kapoor, Joint Secretary at the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, told the news agency in a phone interview that the JV agreement would be followed by the launch of tenders for project contracts. As previously revealed by Indian media, the project partners are Indian state-run firms Hindustan Salts Ltd -- the anchor of the consortium, and central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BOM:500103), or BHEL, Power Grid Corp of India Ltd (BOM:532898), Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam and Solar Energy Corp of India.

Apart from the Rajasthani scheme, there is another 4-GW proposal for Gujarat, a 2-GW solar power project in Kargil and another 5-GW one in Ladakh. Kapoor noted that the insufficient grid capacity remains a major obstacle to India’s 20-GW solar capacity goal by 2020 despite the progress of such gigawatt-scale solar projects. He told the PTI that the inadequate transmission network and the poor financial condition of state electricity boards were worrying project developers.

The PTI said that India’s power generation capacity exceeded 227 GW at present, including 28 GW of renewables.

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