No more extension for solar project timelines, Centre exceeds bid target for FY24: Bhalla
NEW DELHI : Government is looking at putting an end to the practice of giving extensions on timelines for completion of solar power projects in a bid to achieve its ambitious target of 500 GW non-fossil based power capacity by 2030. In an interview, Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, union secretary for the ministry of new and renewable energy also said that the government has bid out 51 GW of renewable energy capacity in FY24, against the target of 50 GW and added capacity addition would accelerate further from FY26.
He said that Centre would be much more stringent going ahead in terms of dealing with requests for extenstion of project timelines and would allow extension only if "absolutely warranted". He noted, although developers faced issues such as domestic supply shortage or high module prices earlier, now the prices have declined and the domestic supply chain is also growing.
The statement comes at a time when the ministry has reinstated the approved list of models and manufacturers (ALMM) for solar photovoltaic modules with effect from 1 April mandating government-backed projects to source modules only from the suppliers featured in the list. "We plan to stop giving extensions for completion of solar projects, except for cases wherein extension is absolutely warranted and the situation is out of the control of the developer.
Extension were given earlier in to developers in grid scale projects and also under CPSE scheme, one of the reason being high prices of module and cells," Bhalla said. "There were issues, but going forward we will not give too many extensions.
We will become very strict as now modules are available, prices also are low. Now lot domestic production is starting." Saying that the domestic capacity of solar
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