State aims to have same amount of solar as is now installed in all of India by 2014

About 40 kilometres from Delhi, in the bustling real estate market of Noida-Greater Noida, lies the biggest irony that the renewable energy industry faces. Indosolar, the country’s largest manufacturer of solar photovoltaic cells, has set up a 400 megawatt unit. Its entrance is slick and ultra-modern, typifying the product it manufactures. Stepping into the 28,000 square metre production unit, one is struck by the shimmering clean, futuristic and sleek production line, symbolic of the clean future that solar power promises.

Should solar thermal be preferred over photovoltaic solar power ? Concentrated solar power (CSP) or solar thermal technology is to be given substantial allocation in the second phase of the national solar mission (2013-2017). This was revealed by the joint secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy, Tarun Kapoor, at the third concentrated solar thermal power summit on March 14, organised in Gurgaon. He stated that detailed plans would be revealed in the next few months. At the same time he admonished the industry.

A number of solar mission projects operational only on paper. The Government has decided to act tough with 14 companies which did not commission their solar power projects in time. NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN), the power trading arm of the state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation, penalised them by encashing a part of their bank guarantees. These erring firms are among the 28 that were awarded solar photovoltaic projects under batch one of first phase of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). The date of commissioning of these plants was January 9.

NVVN recovers Rs 28 crore from erring firms. Acting tough on companies that did not commission solar power projects on time, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) Limited has encashed a part of bank guarantee of 14 of them. The companies were awarded projects under batch one of the first phase of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). The last date of commissioning was January 9. About Rs 28 crores have been encashed from these firms located in Rajasthan, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.