New Delhi The country’s energy import bill is on course to balloon further. The missive from the Prime Minister’s Office to Coal India (CIL) that the company must meet at least 80% of the coal requirement of power plants or get ready to pay a penalty will effectively inflate the country’s coal import bill, already growing at a scorching pace, by another $11 billion annually. High prices of imported coal will increase power tariffs although the whole plan might help reduce the country’s yawning electricity deficit.

New Delhi The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared decks for the NTPC’s R29,700-crore investment plan by upholding the central utility’s decision to disqualify Ansaldo Caldaie from bidding for the bulk supply of 660 mw super-critical boilers.

The state-owned power generator was unable to award the contract that included 11 supercritical boilers and an equal number of supercritical turbines of 660 mw each, to be built locally, pending the disposal of the matter by the apex court.

New Delhi Enthused by the success of the first phase of the Prime Minister’s solar mission, the government has scaled up the second-phase (2013-17) target from 3,000 MW to 9,000 MW and is mulling fresh incentives for potential investors.

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission will see investment of R1.08 lakh crore in the second phase. The first phase saw capacity of 1,000 MW coming up in the sector, where cost of generation is expected to decline sharply in the coming years to make it a major component of the domestic power sector.

New Delhi The government is set to start bidding process for the R17,000-crore Surguja ultra mega power project in Chhattisgarh which has been in limbo due to uncertainty about environment clearanc

New Delhi An exercise will be launched soon to reassess the country’s wind power potential, encouraged by the recent advancement in generation technology.

This will be undertaken by the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) with the help of Chennai-based Centre for Wind Energy Technology (CWET). “We will reassess wind power potential along with CWET,” a ministry official told FE.

New Delhi Power projects of 30,000 MW capacity that are staring at termination of coal supply linkage after missing key implementation milestones may get a breather.

The coal ministry has decided against using penal provisions against these developers on a unilateral basis.

New Delhi The threat of a blackout looming over the Capital due to the payment dispute between NTPC and BSES discoms has been averted, with the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) rest

India is unable to effectively harness its renewable energy resources, even though it is facing mounting pressure to contain its emissions.

New Delhi The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has decided to crack the whip on states overdrawing power much beyond approval.

New Delhi Fossil fuel-based power generators like NTPC, Reliance Power and Lanco Power, and energy majors such as Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and GAIL, are warming up to renewable power in a big way as India moves to control its fast-expanding carbon footprint as part of the global effort to fight climate change.