Tuesday, June 17, 2014:In line with the BJP-led NDA government’s plan to come out with a comprehensive National Energy Policy to balance power generation in the country through conventional and non-conventional sources of energy, plans are now underway to build two state-owned joint ventures (JVs) to oversee the construction of renewable energy projects across the country. Currently, the oil and renewable energy ministries are drafting a proposal for the setting up of the two JVs.
The proposed JVs will be between state-owned oil sector firms such as Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd, Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC), Oil India Ltd and Solar Energy Corp. of India and the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency. One of the JVs will be intended to oversee large-scale, grid-integrated projects while the other will target off-grid projects. While one of the JVs will be led by ONGC, the other will be spearheaded by IOC. The JV partners will initially fund the new firms as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributions.
By judiciously mixing conventional and non-conventional sources, the government plans to substantially augment power generation capacity in the country. Meanwhile, the government is looking to use cleaner fuels to address the problem of growing pollution.
