NEW DELHI: The ministry of new and renewable energy has asked solar manufacturers to provide a list of machinery and capital goods that should be exempted from basic customs duty (BCD), indicating that the duty may soon be imposed. "Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had consultation with Ministry of Finance and Department of Heavy Industry regarding updation of this list," said the notice by the ministry. An executive from a manufacturing company said industry was optimistic.
COLOMBO: India has offered a Line of Credit worth $100 million to Sri Lanka for three solar projects in the country, according to an official statement here. India's high commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay called on minister of power Dullas Alahapperuma and reiterated India's commitment towards a strong and multi-faceted bilateral partnership including in the power sector, the Indian mission said in a statement. They discussed various issues of mutual interest including ways to expedite progress on bilateral power projects currently under discussion between the two sides.
NEW DELHI: India plans to offer $4.6 billion in incentives to companies setting up advanced battery manufacturing facilities as it seeks to promote the use of electric vehicles and cut down its dependence on oil, according to a government proposal seen by Reuters. A proposal drafted by NITI Aayog, a federal think tank chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said India could slash its oil import bills by as much as $40 billion by 2030 if electric vehicles were widely adopted.
NTPC Ltd, India's largest power producer and a PSU under Ministry of Power, has invited bids for procurement of biomass pellets for its various thermal plants on the basis of Domestic Competitive Basis (DCB) as part of its endeavour to reduce burning of crop residue on farmlands that cause air pollution.
In a big push towards electric mobility the Government has sanctioned 670 Electric buses in the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat and Chandigarh and 241 Charging Stations in Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat and Port Blair under Phase-II of FAME India Scheme. Announcing this in a series of tweet messages,Union Heavy Industries minister,Shri Prakash Javadekar said that the decision reflects government's committment to reduce dependence on fossil fuel and to address issues of vehicular emissions.
State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is planning to launch first-of-its-kind aluminium-air batteries that are potentially a more cost-effective alternative to lithium-ion batteries for use in electric vehicles (EV) and stationary applications. The idea is to manufacture these barriers in sites closer to demand centres such as Chennai or Pune. IOC bought a minority stake in Israel-based startup Phinergy that specialises in aluminium-air and zinc-air battery systems in February.
New Delhi: In a big change in its business strategy, the country's largest coal-fired power producer NTPC proposes to completely stop land acquisition for green field thermal projects and rather look for reducing its carbon footprint through aggressive renewable energy push. "We have taken the decision not to acquire any further land for green field thermal projects in near future and the focus will be on reducing the carbon foot print," NTPC chairman Gurdeep Singh said in a statement to the shareholders at a recently concluded AGM.
