India is seeking to install 75 GW of hydropower capacity by 2030 as part of wider ambitions to add 175 GW of renewable power. On September 25, the Himachal Pradesh government signed agreements with state-run NTPC, NHPC and SJVN for setting up 10 hydropower projects of 2,917 MW on entailing an investment of about Rs 28,000 crore. To reach this goal, the central government is asking state governments to give up their share of free hydroelectric power and potentially their share of goods and services tax (GST) too, in order to make the projects economically viable and to support the hydropower sector. The move has been welcomed by environmentalists, who say that it will help reduce India’s dependence on fossil fuels while also helping meet its ambitious target for generating 100 percent clean energy from non-hydro sources like
India is seeking to install 75 GW of hydropower capacity by 2030 as part of wider ambitions to add 175 GW of renewable power. To reach this goal, the central government is asking state governments to give up their share of free hydroelectric power and potentially their share of goods and services tax (GST) too, in order to make the projects economically viable and to support the hydropower sector. The move has been welcomed by environmentalists, who say that it will help reduce India’s dependence on fossil fuels while also helping meet its ambitious target for generating 100 percent clean energy from non-hydro sources like