Government nod to Rs 12K crore green energy corridor in seven states

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 6

The government today approved Rs 12,031-crore proposal to build green energy corridor in seven states for evacuation and transmission of 20 gigawatt (Gw) of power generated from non-fossil fuel sources.

MoU to build bridge on Mahakali cleared

The government on Thursday approved an MoU between India and Nepal for constructing a bridge over the Mahakali river at Dharchula. Information & Broadcasting (IB) Minister Anurag Thakur said the bridge would be completed within three years. TNS

In an official statement, the government said: “The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today approved the scheme on Green Energy Corridor (GEC) Phase-II for the Intra-State Transmission System (InSTS) for adding 10,750 circuit kilometres (ckm) of transmission lines and 27,500 Mega Volt-Amperes (MVA) transformation capacity of substations.”

The scheme will facilitate grid integration and power evacuation of about 20 Gw of renewable energy (RE) projects in seven states — Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

Later, Minister for Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Anurag Thakur told the media the second phase would be implemented from 2021-22 to 2025-26 financial years. He added that 80 per cent of Phase-I has been completed and the outlay for the first phase was Rs 10,142 crore.

The government also said, “The Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of the scheme (Phase-II) will be 33 per cent of the project cost, which amounts to Rs 3,970.34 crore.”

The CFA will help in offsetting the intra-state transmission charges and keep the power costs down. Thus, the government support will ultimately benefit the end-users, it added.

The scheme will help in achieving the target of 450 Gw installed RE capacity by 2030. It would also contribute to long-term energy security of the country and promote ecologically sustainable growth by reducing the carbon footprint.