New Delhi: Real estate developer Supertech is all set to foray into higher education with Supertech University. It will be set up with an investment of Rs 750 crore in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand, around 237 km from Delhi. It will be spread across 47 acres and will have state-of-the-art infrastructure and a fully residential campus.
“In 2006 we entered Uttarakhand and realised a big gap existed in the society in terms of quality higher education; we plan to fill that gap with this university,” said RK Arora, Chairman and Managing Director of Supertech Ltd during the press conference. “We and plan to expand up to 100 acres.”
The university will be funded by the Supertech Foundation, a trust of Supertech Ltd.
“The university's operations will start by end of this year and we plan to offer MDPs and skill development programmes starting from December,” said VPS Arora, Vice-Chancellor of Supertech University.
The academic session will be launched next year with graduate and postgraduate programmes. The university plans to admit 500 to 1,000 students in its first year, and will take this number up to 5,000 to 6,000 in the next five years after the launch. As per the UGC requirements 25 per cent of the students at university should hail from Uttarakhand.
Programmes OFFERED
The university will offer programmes in the domains of architecture and planning, earth, environment and space studies, engineering and technology, fashion and design, hospitality and tourism, languages and communication, law and governance, liberal arts, humanities and social sciences, management studies, medical and health sciences, natural and applied sciences and public policy.
The university also plans to create a Directorate of Skill Development to enhance the employability of its students.
Success in my Habit
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Kirloskar Brothers installs world’s largest water pumping system
Pune: Fluid management company Kirloskar Brothers Ltd (KBL) has collaborated with Tata Power to install the world’s largest circulating water pumping system for the latter’s Ultra Modern Power Plant (UMPP) at Mundra.
Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd, Tata Power’s wholly-owned subsidiary, which has implemented the 4,000 MW UMPP, requires massive amounts of water to condense the heat generated while producing power. Around 10.5 million litres of water is circulated by the pump sets per minute.
Ravindra Ulangwar, AVP & Head, Power Sector, KBL, said, “The Mundra UMPP is India’s first and most energy efficient coal-based thermal power plant using supercritical technology to create lower greenhouse gas emissions and its main power generation equipment is sourced from Japan and Korea.”
The pumping system is designed to take care of fluctuations in the sea water level due to tidal variations.
The Mundra UMPP will meet 2 per cent of India’s power needs and 16 million domestic, industrial and agricultural consumers in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab will benefit from this project.
Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd, Tata Power’s wholly-owned subsidiary, which has implemented the 4,000 MW UMPP, requires massive amounts of water to condense the heat generated while producing power. Around 10.5 million litres of water is circulated by the pump sets per minute.
Ravindra Ulangwar, AVP & Head, Power Sector, KBL, said, “The Mundra UMPP is India’s first and most energy efficient coal-based thermal power plant using supercritical technology to create lower greenhouse gas emissions and its main power generation equipment is sourced from Japan and Korea.”
The pumping system is designed to take care of fluctuations in the sea water level due to tidal variations.
The Mundra UMPP will meet 2 per cent of India’s power needs and 16 million domestic, industrial and agricultural consumers in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab will benefit from this project.
Aurobindo gets USFDA nod for diabetes drug
Hyderabad: Aurobindo Pharma Ld has received the final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market Repaglinide tablets. The product is ready for launch.
The tablets are the generic equivalent of Novo Nordisk Inc’s Prandin tablets and are indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
The market size of the product is estimated to be $274 million for the 12 months ended November 30, 2013, according to IMS.
The Hyderabad-based company now has a total of 189 Abbreviated New Drug Approvals (ANDA) approvals (164 final approvals, including seven from Aurolife Pharma LLC and 25 tentative approvals) from the US regulator, according to a release.
The tablets are the generic equivalent of Novo Nordisk Inc’s Prandin tablets and are indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
The market size of the product is estimated to be $274 million for the 12 months ended November 30, 2013, according to IMS.
The Hyderabad-based company now has a total of 189 Abbreviated New Drug Approvals (ANDA) approvals (164 final approvals, including seven from Aurolife Pharma LLC and 25 tentative approvals) from the US regulator, according to a release.
PPP panel clears projects worth Rs 1280.65 crore
Pune: The Public-Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) in its 62nd Meeting recommended Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects worth Rs 7595.19 crore while the Empowered Committee (EC) in its 19th Meeting approved Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of Rs 1280.65 crore for PPP projects.
The 62nd PPPAC meeting and 19th Meeting of the Empowered Committee (EC), both chaired by secretary, department of economic Affairs, ministry of finance met recently in New Delhi. The Public-Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) granted approval to five (5) projects of ministry of road transport & highways.
The list of projects is given below. The estimated project cost of the approved projects is Rs. 7595.19 crore. Since its constitution in January 2006, the Public-Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) has approved 272 central sector projects with TPC of Rs 296579.6 crore. These include NHs (223 proposals), ports (32 proposals), airports (2 proposals), tourism infrastructure (1 proposal), housing (8 proposals) and sports stadia (5 proposals). In this year, till date, a total of 19 projects with total cost of Rs. 43903.30 crore have been approved by the PPPAC.
The 19th meeting of the Empowered Committee (EC) chaired by secretary, department of economic affairs which also met here on Wednesday, accorded in-principle approval to four (4) projects including two (2) projects from government of Maharashtra and two (2) projects of government of Uttar Pradesh for Viability Gap Funding of Rs 695.20 and final approval to two (2) projects from Uttar Pradesh For Viability Gap Funding of Rs 585.45.
The 62nd PPPAC meeting and 19th Meeting of the Empowered Committee (EC), both chaired by secretary, department of economic Affairs, ministry of finance met recently in New Delhi. The Public-Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) granted approval to five (5) projects of ministry of road transport & highways.
The list of projects is given below. The estimated project cost of the approved projects is Rs. 7595.19 crore. Since its constitution in January 2006, the Public-Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) has approved 272 central sector projects with TPC of Rs 296579.6 crore. These include NHs (223 proposals), ports (32 proposals), airports (2 proposals), tourism infrastructure (1 proposal), housing (8 proposals) and sports stadia (5 proposals). In this year, till date, a total of 19 projects with total cost of Rs. 43903.30 crore have been approved by the PPPAC.
The 19th meeting of the Empowered Committee (EC) chaired by secretary, department of economic affairs which also met here on Wednesday, accorded in-principle approval to four (4) projects including two (2) projects from government of Maharashtra and two (2) projects of government of Uttar Pradesh for Viability Gap Funding of Rs 695.20 and final approval to two (2) projects from Uttar Pradesh For Viability Gap Funding of Rs 585.45.
Innovation Hub at National Science Centre, Delhi launched
New Delhi: The Union government has taken yet another step to promote innovation through science and technology by establishing innovation hubs across the country. Shri Sam Pitroda, Chairman, National Innovation Council & Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations inaugurated an ‘Innovation Hub’ at the National Science Centre, New Delhi today. It provides a unique opportunity for children of various age groups to work at the facility during the week-ends to develop their ideas on various aspects of Science & Technology. Membership is available for interested students for long-term hands-on and minds-on engagement in creative activities in science & technology. Over 40 students have already sought membership of the new facility and it will be functional from this weekend.
The Innovation hub has been equipped with components namely, Hall of Fame with stories of Inventions and Inventors; Innovation Resource Centre with online access to innovation-centric resources; Innovative Laboratory to carry out activities, experiments and projects; Tech Lab for Robotics & Microprocessor Programming; Tod-Phod-Jod (Break & Remake) for students to open gadgets and reassemble them on their own; Kabad Se Jugad (Build from Scrap) for students to develop things from scrap and low-cost materials and an Idea Box for children to propose ideas and create an idea bank. The best ideas will be chosen for experimentation, model making and project work. In addition, children are encouraged to identify real life problem/investigatory projects and work on for solutions under the guidance of experts/mentors.
While delivering the keynote address, Shri Sam Pitroda announced that the National Innovation Council along with the Ministry of Culture and the Planning Commission is working on the scheme to launch 100 such innovation hubs across the country. Similar hubs have been launched at the Bangalore and Kolkata Science centres under the Council of Science Museums, an autonomous body under Ministry of Culture. The basic idea is to encourage children to imagine and explore. He suggested that all Science centres must engage with the local community and create local ecosystems to own, support and nurture these innovation hubs. He also suggested that every science centre must have members of the local community including businessmen, scientists, professionals, academicians, and members of the civil society in its governing board.
The Innovation hub has been equipped with components namely, Hall of Fame with stories of Inventions and Inventors; Innovation Resource Centre with online access to innovation-centric resources; Innovative Laboratory to carry out activities, experiments and projects; Tech Lab for Robotics & Microprocessor Programming; Tod-Phod-Jod (Break & Remake) for students to open gadgets and reassemble them on their own; Kabad Se Jugad (Build from Scrap) for students to develop things from scrap and low-cost materials and an Idea Box for children to propose ideas and create an idea bank. The best ideas will be chosen for experimentation, model making and project work. In addition, children are encouraged to identify real life problem/investigatory projects and work on for solutions under the guidance of experts/mentors.
While delivering the keynote address, Shri Sam Pitroda announced that the National Innovation Council along with the Ministry of Culture and the Planning Commission is working on the scheme to launch 100 such innovation hubs across the country. Similar hubs have been launched at the Bangalore and Kolkata Science centres under the Council of Science Museums, an autonomous body under Ministry of Culture. The basic idea is to encourage children to imagine and explore. He suggested that all Science centres must engage with the local community and create local ecosystems to own, support and nurture these innovation hubs. He also suggested that every science centre must have members of the local community including businessmen, scientists, professionals, academicians, and members of the civil society in its governing board.
Amul launches India’s first ‘milk ATM’
Ahmedabad: Automatic teller machines not only dispense money, ATM-like machines also vend other products such as chocolates and soft drinks. But Amul has gone a step further: it will now sell milk through “Any Time Milk” vending machines.
The pilot project of this 24x7 ATM began with the installation of a vending machine at the gate of Amul Dairy in Anand town of Gujarat on Sunday.
“To start with, we plan to set up these ATMs at each of the 1,100 ‘mandalis’ (village-level milk collection centres) in Kheda and Anand districts where we market Amul, Ramsinh Parmar, Chairman, Kheda District Milk Producers’ Union, popularly known as Amul Dairy, told Business Line on Tuesday.
In Anand and Kheda towns, these ATMs will be installed at different public places to enable the consumers to buy milk whenever needed.
He said Amul Dairy is in talks with the Kheda District Cooperative Bank to work out financial aspects of the project.
For a Rs 10-currency note, which this machine will read through a sensor, the ATM would dispense a 300 ml pouch of Amul Taaza milk. The ATM, fitted with refrigeration facility, has a capacity to hold 150 pouches at a time.
While Kheda Union, which owns the Amul brand, markets milk in Anand and Kheda district, it is marketed by the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) elsewhere.
GCMMF is also likely to follow suit after a review of the project.
The pilot project of this 24x7 ATM began with the installation of a vending machine at the gate of Amul Dairy in Anand town of Gujarat on Sunday.
“To start with, we plan to set up these ATMs at each of the 1,100 ‘mandalis’ (village-level milk collection centres) in Kheda and Anand districts where we market Amul, Ramsinh Parmar, Chairman, Kheda District Milk Producers’ Union, popularly known as Amul Dairy, told Business Line on Tuesday.
In Anand and Kheda towns, these ATMs will be installed at different public places to enable the consumers to buy milk whenever needed.
He said Amul Dairy is in talks with the Kheda District Cooperative Bank to work out financial aspects of the project.
For a Rs 10-currency note, which this machine will read through a sensor, the ATM would dispense a 300 ml pouch of Amul Taaza milk. The ATM, fitted with refrigeration facility, has a capacity to hold 150 pouches at a time.
While Kheda Union, which owns the Amul brand, markets milk in Anand and Kheda district, it is marketed by the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) elsewhere.
GCMMF is also likely to follow suit after a review of the project.
After Facebook, Google buys startup with Indian link
Bengaluru: After Facebook's acquisition of Bangalore-based Little Eye Labs earlier this month, it's Google that has now bought a three-year-old startup that had two Indians — Vish Ramarao and Naveen Jamal — as co-founders and offices in Bangalore and California. The startup, Impermium, had a third co-founder Mark Risher.
Jamal was based in Bangalore and looked after the office here, while Ramarao and Risher were based in California. All three had previously worked together in Yahoo and came out of it in 2010 to found Impermium. The startup focused on building security products for websites.
Impermium's website now has just a note from Risher, who was the CEO, with the headline 'Impermium is joining Google'. It goes on to say: "By joining Google, our team will merge with some of the best abuse fighters in the world. With our combined talents we'll be able to further our mission and help make the internet a safer place. We're excited about the possibilities."
Impermium had received $9 million in funding from a host of venture firms including Accel Partners, AOL Ventures, Charles River Ventures and Highland Capital Partners. Google has not disclosed the terms of its deal with Impermium.
Acquisitions of India-based startups by the likes of Google and Facebook are expected to provide a big boost to the startup ecosystem. Not too many India-based startups have had great exits yet, but the latest instances look to be changing that trend. Software product startup associations like iSpirt are actively engaged in trying to marry Indian startups with global ones.
Jamal is originally from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, went to the US to study, worked as a software engineer in a small US company and then joined Yahoo in 1998. He moved to Bangalore around the time Impermium was being founded and established the office here. Ramarao is from Bangalore, went to the US for higher studies, and has since been there.
Prior to Impermium, all three co-founders were in Yahoo Mail, where they dealt with problems of spam, web security and fraudulent account creation. In an interview to TOI early last year, Risher said they realized that the problems they dealt with weren't an issue with just Yahoo's services but rather a problem with every website on the internet, and that encouraged them to found Impermium.
Risher said the company had built a number of services that worked as a risk-determination system, which could help identify when an account had been compromised. The system calculates the risk from parameters like where you accessed the account from, the device software and historical usage pattern of the links you're posting.
And Risher then had this to say about his new employer: "Security is always a balance between convenience and safety. And a complete overhaul (of the password system) becomes difficult. Google talked about an RFID ring that you would wear and which would transfer a secure certificate. Yes it would work but it would be a hassle and everybody would have to buy a reader. It's not going to happen overnight."
Impermium has said it has 300,000 clients, including Tumblr, Pinterest, CNN, ESPN, Typepad and Washington Post.
Jamal was based in Bangalore and looked after the office here, while Ramarao and Risher were based in California. All three had previously worked together in Yahoo and came out of it in 2010 to found Impermium. The startup focused on building security products for websites.
Impermium's website now has just a note from Risher, who was the CEO, with the headline 'Impermium is joining Google'. It goes on to say: "By joining Google, our team will merge with some of the best abuse fighters in the world. With our combined talents we'll be able to further our mission and help make the internet a safer place. We're excited about the possibilities."
Impermium had received $9 million in funding from a host of venture firms including Accel Partners, AOL Ventures, Charles River Ventures and Highland Capital Partners. Google has not disclosed the terms of its deal with Impermium.
Acquisitions of India-based startups by the likes of Google and Facebook are expected to provide a big boost to the startup ecosystem. Not too many India-based startups have had great exits yet, but the latest instances look to be changing that trend. Software product startup associations like iSpirt are actively engaged in trying to marry Indian startups with global ones.
Jamal is originally from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, went to the US to study, worked as a software engineer in a small US company and then joined Yahoo in 1998. He moved to Bangalore around the time Impermium was being founded and established the office here. Ramarao is from Bangalore, went to the US for higher studies, and has since been there.
Prior to Impermium, all three co-founders were in Yahoo Mail, where they dealt with problems of spam, web security and fraudulent account creation. In an interview to TOI early last year, Risher said they realized that the problems they dealt with weren't an issue with just Yahoo's services but rather a problem with every website on the internet, and that encouraged them to found Impermium.
Risher said the company had built a number of services that worked as a risk-determination system, which could help identify when an account had been compromised. The system calculates the risk from parameters like where you accessed the account from, the device software and historical usage pattern of the links you're posting.
And Risher then had this to say about his new employer: "Security is always a balance between convenience and safety. And a complete overhaul (of the password system) becomes difficult. Google talked about an RFID ring that you would wear and which would transfer a secure certificate. Yes it would work but it would be a hassle and everybody would have to buy a reader. It's not going to happen overnight."
Impermium has said it has 300,000 clients, including Tumblr, Pinterest, CNN, ESPN, Typepad and Washington Post.
Cadila Health gets USFDA nod for anti-depressant drug Bupropion
Ahmedabad: Cadila Healthcare Ltd (Zydus Cadila) on Tuesday said it has received final approval from the USFDA for Bupropion Hydrochloride Extended-release Tablets USP (XL) in the strength of 300 mg.
The drug falls in the anti-depressant segment, according to a company release here.
The estimated sales in 2013, as per IMS, for this product was $255.9 million. The total market for Bupropion was estimated at $526.7 million.
The group now has 87 approvals and has so far filed 216 ANDAs since the start of filing process in FY 2003-04.
The drug falls in the anti-depressant segment, according to a company release here.
The estimated sales in 2013, as per IMS, for this product was $255.9 million. The total market for Bupropion was estimated at $526.7 million.
The group now has 87 approvals and has so far filed 216 ANDAs since the start of filing process in FY 2003-04.
Agreement between Ennore Port and Ford India Pvt Limited to boost auto exports
New Delhi: Ennore Port Limited (EPL), Chennai and Ford India Private Limited have signed an agreement for export of Ford cars though the Ennore port for a period of 10 years. Speaking on the occasion the Union Minister for Shipping Shri G.K. Vasan said that this is a part of series of initiatives by the UPA government for attracting investments in the infrastructure sector, particularly in ports and automobile sectors.
The agreement provides for various volume based discounts on wharfage by EPL ranging from 5% to 30% to encourage more exports through EPL. Ford India Private Limited has set up a modern integrated manufacturing facility at Maraimalai Nagar, near Chennai, for export of their automobile products. In the last few years, Chennai has emerged as the hub of automobile manufacturing sector with all global auto majors having their manufacturing plants in the city. Besides, Chennai has also emerged as a major centre for export of automobiles. Ennore Port has played a key role in facilitating these exports.
Between September 2010 and December 2013 about 4,49,720 automobile units have been exported from Ennore Port, including those of manufacturers like Nissan, Ford & Ashok Leyland from Chennai, Toyota from Bangalore and Honda from Delhi. Ennore Port has developed a General Cargo-cum-Car Terminal at a cost of Rs.140 crore, which includes a car parking yard of 35 acres for parking of 10000 cars at a time, the biggest amongst the Major Ports.
Giving details of the future projects of the port, the minister said that the Ennore Port has planned to set up an LNG storage and re-gasification terminal with IOCL for import of LNG at an estimated investment of Rs.4500 crores having capacity of 5 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum. The IOCL plans to commission the project by 2016-17. The Port has also commenced pre-project activities for the construction of the third coal berth to handle additional 9 million tonnes of coal required by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO). In keeping with the global trend of containerised transportation of cargo, Ennore Port has also come up with a proposal to develop a container terminal at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,270 crore with a capacity of 1.4 million TEUs. This project is targeted for award during 2013-14 along with Multi Cargo Terminal.
The Port is expected to handle 24 MMT during 2013-14 as against 17.89 MMT during 2012-13. During the 12th five year plan, Ennore port has plans to increase the Port capacity from present 30 MTPA to 66.8 MTPA. All these measures are expected to generate more employment opportunities, promote the growth of Indian exports as well as boost the domestic economy.
The agreement provides for various volume based discounts on wharfage by EPL ranging from 5% to 30% to encourage more exports through EPL. Ford India Private Limited has set up a modern integrated manufacturing facility at Maraimalai Nagar, near Chennai, for export of their automobile products. In the last few years, Chennai has emerged as the hub of automobile manufacturing sector with all global auto majors having their manufacturing plants in the city. Besides, Chennai has also emerged as a major centre for export of automobiles. Ennore Port has played a key role in facilitating these exports.
Between September 2010 and December 2013 about 4,49,720 automobile units have been exported from Ennore Port, including those of manufacturers like Nissan, Ford & Ashok Leyland from Chennai, Toyota from Bangalore and Honda from Delhi. Ennore Port has developed a General Cargo-cum-Car Terminal at a cost of Rs.140 crore, which includes a car parking yard of 35 acres for parking of 10000 cars at a time, the biggest amongst the Major Ports.
Giving details of the future projects of the port, the minister said that the Ennore Port has planned to set up an LNG storage and re-gasification terminal with IOCL for import of LNG at an estimated investment of Rs.4500 crores having capacity of 5 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum. The IOCL plans to commission the project by 2016-17. The Port has also commenced pre-project activities for the construction of the third coal berth to handle additional 9 million tonnes of coal required by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO). In keeping with the global trend of containerised transportation of cargo, Ennore Port has also come up with a proposal to develop a container terminal at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,270 crore with a capacity of 1.4 million TEUs. This project is targeted for award during 2013-14 along with Multi Cargo Terminal.
The Port is expected to handle 24 MMT during 2013-14 as against 17.89 MMT during 2012-13. During the 12th five year plan, Ennore port has plans to increase the Port capacity from present 30 MTPA to 66.8 MTPA. All these measures are expected to generate more employment opportunities, promote the growth of Indian exports as well as boost the domestic economy.
Rs 5-lakh-crore investments: PM wants solar energy target advanced
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has instructed advancing the planned commissioning of 100,00 Megawatt (Mw) of solar power generation capacity to 2027, against the originally envisaged target of 2031. The long-term target for the ambitious solar mission will be made public soon.
The government, on Tuesday, received bids from 68 companies, including Tata Power, Moser Baer, Welspun, Azure Power, Jakson Power and KSK Energy, for setting up 2,170 Mw capacity projects for the second phase of the mission. This is three times the proposed 750 Mw to be supplied at a fixed tariff of Rs 5.5 per unit. The highest bidders included Azure Power (200 Mw), Welspun (160 Mw) and ILF&S Energy (100 Mw).
The PM’s Office has asked the largest power equipment manufacturer, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to give next week presentations on the blueprint of the strategies to implement the plan that could attract investment in excess of Rs 5-6 lakh crore.
“PM’s Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterjee is guiding the entire initiative. MNRE had earlier worked out the 2031 plan and the PM has now asked for an aggressive target of 2027. This is now possible as we believe the grid-parity for solar power is expected to be achieved by 2018,” an executive involved in the discussions told Business Standard.
As part of the plan, BHEL is setting up integrated facilities to manufacture equipment across the value chain, from polysilicon wafers to photovoltaic cells and modules that capture sunlight light for conversion into electricity. The first 500-Mw capacity factory is under construction and will start producing in 18 months.
The PSU will also take up the role of a producer by utilising its surplus resources to take up minority equity stakes in the solar power generation projects that will be set up under the initiative. BHEL had a cash balance of Rs 6,221 crore at the end of September quarter. The company is currently building a 4,000-Mw solar power plant 75 km from Jaipur in Rajasthan.
Singh had launched the National Solar Mission, as one of the seven schemes under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), in January 2010. The scheme targeted setting up 20,000 Mw of solar power capacity by 2022 in three phases. Since then, over 2,000 Mw of such capacity has been commissioned in the first phase (2010-13).
The success of the first phase was owed to the mechanism of bundling expensive solar power with electricity from the unallocated quota of the centre’s thermal power stations, which is relatively cheaper. Also, a reverse-bidding mechanism was followed that enabled qualified bidders to benefit from declining global prices for solar components, thereby reducing purchase prices of solar PV equipment.
In reverse bidding, developers quote the amount of investment needed to construct a project to qualify for viability gap funding (VGF) rather than quoting the electricity tariff.
Prices were pulled down due to a slump in demand for solar components in key economies.
The government, on Tuesday, received bids from 68 companies, including Tata Power, Moser Baer, Welspun, Azure Power, Jakson Power and KSK Energy, for setting up 2,170 Mw capacity projects for the second phase of the mission. This is three times the proposed 750 Mw to be supplied at a fixed tariff of Rs 5.5 per unit. The highest bidders included Azure Power (200 Mw), Welspun (160 Mw) and ILF&S Energy (100 Mw).
The PM’s Office has asked the largest power equipment manufacturer, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to give next week presentations on the blueprint of the strategies to implement the plan that could attract investment in excess of Rs 5-6 lakh crore.
“PM’s Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterjee is guiding the entire initiative. MNRE had earlier worked out the 2031 plan and the PM has now asked for an aggressive target of 2027. This is now possible as we believe the grid-parity for solar power is expected to be achieved by 2018,” an executive involved in the discussions told Business Standard.
As part of the plan, BHEL is setting up integrated facilities to manufacture equipment across the value chain, from polysilicon wafers to photovoltaic cells and modules that capture sunlight light for conversion into electricity. The first 500-Mw capacity factory is under construction and will start producing in 18 months.
The PSU will also take up the role of a producer by utilising its surplus resources to take up minority equity stakes in the solar power generation projects that will be set up under the initiative. BHEL had a cash balance of Rs 6,221 crore at the end of September quarter. The company is currently building a 4,000-Mw solar power plant 75 km from Jaipur in Rajasthan.
Singh had launched the National Solar Mission, as one of the seven schemes under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), in January 2010. The scheme targeted setting up 20,000 Mw of solar power capacity by 2022 in three phases. Since then, over 2,000 Mw of such capacity has been commissioned in the first phase (2010-13).
The success of the first phase was owed to the mechanism of bundling expensive solar power with electricity from the unallocated quota of the centre’s thermal power stations, which is relatively cheaper. Also, a reverse-bidding mechanism was followed that enabled qualified bidders to benefit from declining global prices for solar components, thereby reducing purchase prices of solar PV equipment.
In reverse bidding, developers quote the amount of investment needed to construct a project to qualify for viability gap funding (VGF) rather than quoting the electricity tariff.
Prices were pulled down due to a slump in demand for solar components in key economies.
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