A third of the Jharkhand government’s revenues comes from coal or coal-related activities. The State has the highest number of ‘coal’ districts — 18. Other coal mining states, such as Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Odisha, have 3-4 such districts.
Therefore, it is challenging for Jharkhand to defer to the climate imperative of moving away from coal. Yet, the government has chalked out a plan to develop 4 GW of solar in the State by 2027.
At a workshop for journalists organised recently in Ranchi by the Earth Journalism Network, an official of Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) said the State planned to create 1,000 ‘solar villages’, where households will be predominantly powered by solar energy. Solar installation in these villages is expected to add up to 400 MW, the official said.
This would cost ₹3,000 crore, but the State expects a ₹1,200 crore central subsidy from the PM Suryagarh Muft Bijli Yojana.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand is also going big on solar-powered mini grids. So far, 237 villages (12,406 households) have been provided with solar-powered mini grids under the State scheme, and another 246 villages through assistance from the central government. The solar plants powering the mini grids total 5.47 MW and 3.6 MW, respectively.
The State has also decided to offer a fixed feed-in tariff (FiT) for developers who put up solar projects upto 10 MW. This is necessary as small developers can’t compete with big projects in competitive bidding. Jharkhand expects to add 1,000 MW in five years through this route.
Grew Solar begins work on 5 GW module plant
Grew Solar, part of the Ahmedabad-based Chiripal group, has started work on the construction of its 5 GW module plant near Jaipur, where it already has a 3 GW manufacturing facility.
Alongside this, it has begun work on its ₹4,500-crore, 6 GW ingot-wafer-cell plant in Narmadapuram, near Bhopal, the company’s COO, Hardip Singh, told businessline recently. With the 6 GW from cells feeding into the 8 GW of modules, the company, a beneficiary of the government’s production-linked incentive scheme , expects to be among the larger solar manufacturers in India.
Singh said Grew Solar’s TOPCon cells are of 25.3 per cent efficiency — they can convert 25.3 per cent of the solar energy falling on them into electricity. The company has also entered into a memorandum of understanding with IIT-Bombay for developing higher efficiency (heterojunction) cells.
Meanwhile, Grew’s ₹4,500-crore investment in Jammu, in another module plant, is on hold, apparently because the new J&K government is taking a “re-look” at projects approved earlier. The company is still in possession of the 80 acres it secured last year.
With some machinery in place and the deadline for commissioning plants — for the PLI — fast approaching, Grew decided to invest in Jaipur and Narmadapuram.
Asked if this meant the company was giving up its plans for J&K, Singh said, “8 GW of modules and 6 GW of cells is just the beginning; a lot more is to be done.”