Talks with FIs, state governments on for 1,000-Mw capacity; may also float subsidiary for solar EPC.

After a small presence in the biomass energy sector, Areva, the French energy major, is betting big on solar power in India.

A new era in renewables is clearly round the corner. Things seem to be moving on the right track, but there is a need to have clear-cut norms and proactive policy to coagulate funds and resources right along the board in the renewable energy space
Jaideep Mishra

Solar power remains the brightly promising spot in the field of renewable energy, and its prospects seem to be improving by the day.

THE government will make it mandatory for mobile phone towers to be powered by solar energy, a move it hopes will cut pollution and tamp down a key driver of diesel consumption in the country.

JAIPUR: Solar energy to illuminate Ajmer Sharif The holy shrine of saint Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer will be soon illuminated by solar energy as the authorities undertook a project to introduce solar energy based public lighting system in Jaipur.

The Union minister for non-conventional energy Farooq Abdullah sanctioned a `50 lakh project to equip the shrine with the solar energy.

Chandigarh: The Haryana Power Generation Corporation (HPGCL) is venturing into solar power generation by setting up solar energy-based power plants at Panipat, Yamunanagar and Khedar in Hisar.

HPGCL plans to tap the vast solar energy potential and earn carbon credits by generating power through this clean source.

With a view to protect standing crops from wild animals, particularly elephants, the forest department of Uttarakhand is going to guard fields with solar fencing.

New Delhi: The country will begin rolling out hundreds of megawatts of solar power by December next year, ahead of an initial target for an ambitious plan that seeks to zoom production from near zero to 20 gigawatts by 2022.

Under its Solar Mission plan issued last year, India is to produce 1,300 megawatt (mw) of power by 2013, an additional supply of up to 10 gigawatt (gw) by 2017 and the rest