: Union ministry of power has asked Tamil Nadu and other states to identify locations where solar and projects could be set up. Once the survey is completed, the ministry will fix tariff for solar and wind power based on the areas which have better irradiation, transmission facility etc, said Union MNRE secretary Anand Kumar. He was speaking at a CII conference on green power. “We are hopeful of meeting the target of having 173GW capacity of renewable power by 2022. As of now, 120GW of renewable capacity has been commissioned or is in the pipeline and the remaining 55GW will be completed by 2022 and we will even have more than 173GW by that year,” said a confined secretary. Before the secretary, CII RE council chairman Ramesh Kymal raised several issues faced by the wind and solar power companies. One of the main issue was the tariff which has been falling each year. “In several states, the bids for renewable power have been cancelled due to issues such as lower tariff, land availability and transmission problems. We want the ministry to look into these issues and solve it,” said Kymal. The secretary said the tariff of renewable power in India is competitive globally. “We cannot say just due to lower tariff it is not possible to commission a solar or wind project. For example, a solar company which won a bid at Rs 2.44, has commissioned the project successfully,” said the official. He accepted that there are some states which are delaying in allocating land. “We have found that there are some states which are not ready to make land available but the ministry is working on this issue. We are also looking at the GST rate,” he said.
Tamil Nadu and other Indian states have been requested by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to identify sites for solar and wind power projects. Tariffs will be set for renewable energy, based on locations with better solar irradiation and transmission facility. Renewable energy secretary Anand Kumar believes India will exceed its target of 173 GW renewable capacity by 2022, with 120 GW commissioned or planned and 55 GW on schedule. MNRE is also working to address the issue of states which have yet to make land available for renewable projects.