Assam To Invest Rs 10,000cr For 2000 MW Solar Power

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The Assam government has decided to produce 2,000 MW of solar power with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the capacity will be added in the next three years.

Assam wants to add 2000MW solar through two projects. The state will form a joint venture with centre-owned NLC India. It will also obtain a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the other solar project.

Exercising the first option, the Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd (APDCL) has now collaborated with NLC India for the development of 1,000 MW of solar energy. They will make an investment of Rs 5,500 crore. An agreement has been inked in presence of Union Minister of Coal Pralhad Joshi and Himanta Biswa Sarma. The two companies will form a joint venture to develop the project.

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The Chief Minister informed that in the joint venture, APDCL will hold 49 per cent stake and NCL India will have the remaining 51 per cent.

Rakesh Kumar, Chairman and MD, NLC India, said, “We are already ready to start the work with the signing of the MoU. The total project cost will be around Rs 5,500 crore depending on the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) bids.” The CMD also informed that the solar project will be developed in 2-3 pockets of Assam. The power production will commence in 1.5 years.

Kumar added, “The land is already available and tender documents are ready. The project will generate 1,500 million units and our target is to produce 35,000 million units in 25 years.”

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He further informed that the project will generate about 2,000 employment during the construction of the solar project. There will also be about 1,000 jobs when the project is operational.

Another Project In Offing

There will also be an investment of another Rs 4,000 crore in Assam in the solar sector for the generation of another 1,000 MW.

Sarma held, “This is a central government initiative and we have got in-principle approval of the ADB loan for this. This will be implemented fully by APDCL. So, Assam will see a total of around Rs 10,000 crore investment to produce 2,000 MW of renewable energy.”

Assam is currently generating about 200 MW of renewable power in total.

Giving a thrust on expanding economic development in Assam, the CM said, “We need 1,000-1,500 MW of solid power because of rising economic activities. We have requested NLCI to set up a thermal power plant of 1,000 MW catering to the demands of only Assam.”