Author Archives: Rakesh Ranjan
About Rakesh Ranjan
Rakesh is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Prior to joining Mercom, he worked in many roles as a business correspondent, assistant editor, senior content writer, and sub-editor with bcfocus.com, CIOReview/Silicon India, Verbinden Communication, and Bangalore Bias. Rakesh holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). More articles from Rakesh Ranjan.

Solar Federation Requests for Time to Submit Bids for Andhra Pradesh’s 6.4 GW Tender
The National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) has requested the Andhra Pradesh Green Energy Corporation Limited (APGECL) to extend the bid submission deadline for its recent tender for 6.4 ...

BHEL Invites Bids for Multicrystalline & Mono PERC Solar Cells from Local Manufacturers
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), a government undertaking, has invited bids for the supply of 6,568,000 multicrystalline and monocrystalline passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) solar cells. The bids are ...

BESCOM Plans to Install Over 1 GW of Rooftop Solar Systems, Seeks Consultant
The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) has invited bids to engage a consultancy firm for demand aggregation and implementation of 1.06 GW of grid-connected rooftop solar systems. The last ...

DGTR Imposes Countervailing Duty of 9.71% on Solar Glass Imports from Malaysia
The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has imposed a countervailing duty at 9.71% of the cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) value for five years ...

IndiGrid to Acquire Two Solar Projects in Andhra Pradesh from Spain’s Fotowatio Renewable
IndiGrid Investment Managers Limited announced that it had signed a securities purchase agreement to acquire two solar projects of capacity 50 MW each from Madrid-based developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), FRV Solar ...

Top Five Funding Deals of 2020 in the Indian Solar Market [Infographics]
After a sluggish start to the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, activity in the solar sector picked up in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, ...

Gujarat’s 500 MW Auction Sets A New Record Low Solar Tariff of ₹1.99/kWh
The Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited's (GUVNL) (Phase XI) auction for 500 MW of solar projects has set a new record. In this auction, the lowest (L1) tariff reached ₹1.99 ...

A New Solid-State Lithium Battery That Can Increase the Range of Electric Vehicles by 80%
The rise of electric vehicles (EVs) in the last few years has been phenomenal. One of the impediments holding back the broader adoption of EVs is the performance of batteries ...

MNRE Issues Specifications for Lithium Batteries Used in Off-Grid Solar Applications
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has released the requirements for solar street lights and solar study lamps specifying minimum performance parameters for lithium batteries. The ministry has ...

Ayana Renewable Raises $390 Million in Equity Funding
Bangalore-based renewable energy platform Ayana Renewable Power Private Limited has raised $390 million (~₹28.6 billion) in the latest round of funding. The CDC Group-UK’s development finance institution, National Investment and ...

Indonesia Invites Bids for Solar and Bioenergy Projects
Indonesia's state-owned public utility, Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), has invited bids from developers for solar and bioenergy (biomass and biogas) projects in the country. The bidders will have to meet ...

Tamil Nadu Commission Dismisses NSEFI’s Plea for Rollover of Banked Renewable Energy
The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) dismissed the National Solar energy Federation of India's (NSEFI) request to allow rollover of banked energy from open access projects under the captive ...

Government Proposes Option for DISCOMs to Exit PPA After Their Tenure
The Ministry of Power (MoP) has issued draft proposals enabling the distribution companies (DISCOMs) to either continue or exit from the power purchase agreements (PPAs) after the completion of the ...

TOTAL’s Subsidiary Saft Launches New Brand of Batteries in India
Saft, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TOTAL, recently announced the launch of the Saft Urja brand batteries to be manufactured and sold by its Indian subsidiary. The company specializes in advanced ...

Indian Railways Invites Bids for a Pilot Solar Power Project with Battery Storage
The Railway Energy Management Company Limited (REMCL), a joint venture of the Indian Railways and RITES Limited, has invited bids for a pilot project to procure renewable energy power for the ...

Poland Allocates 800 MW of Solar and 900 MW of Wind Capacity in Latest Auction
The largest renewable energy auction conducted by the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) in Poland took place on November 26, 2020. The auction was intended for solar developers with an installed ...

JERC to Allow Banking of Renewable Energy up to 20% of the Total Generation
The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for the state of Goa and union territories has issued amendments to the intrastate open access transmission and distribution regulations 2017. In the amendments, ...

REIL Floats Another Tender for the Supply of 200,000 Multicrystalline Solar Cells
The Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited (REIL), a joint venture between the center and the Rajasthan government, has invited bids for the supply of 200,000 multicrystalline solar cells of 4.50W ...

SECI’s Disbursement to Solar and Wind Developers Dips Slightly to ₹3.7 Billion in October
The Solar energy Corporation of India (SECI) paid nearly ₹3.7 billion (~$50.2 million) to solar and wind developers in October 2020, which amounted to 48.9% of the total amount disbursed ...

NTPC Invites Bids for the Solarization of 47 ISA Member Countries
NTPC Limited has invited expressions of interest (EoI) for the solarization of 47 least developed countries (LDC) and small island developing states (SIDS) member countries of the International Solar Alliance ...

NTPC Invites Bids for a 3 MW Rooftop Solar Project at IIT Jodhpur
NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN), a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTPC Limited, has invited bids for setting up a 3 MW grid-connected rooftop solar project at the Indian Institute of ...

Madhya Pradesh Invites Bids for 100 MW of Solar Projects Under KUSUM Program
The Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (MPUVNL) has invited bids for setting up of 100 MW of grid-connected solar power projects under Component A of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan ...

NTPC Floats O&M Tender for its 10 MW Solar Power Project in Uttar Pradesh
NTPC Limited has invited bids for the operation and maintenance (O&M) services of the 10 MW solar power project at its Unchahar plant in Uttar Pradesh. The last date to ...

Solar Park Developer Asked Not to Stop Generators from Feeding Excess Energy to the Grid
The Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) directed a solar park developer in the state to not obstruct solar power generators from evacuating the generated solar power up to 110% of ...

REIL Invites Bids for 200,000 Multicrystalline Solar Cells Under DCR Category
The Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited (REIL) has invited bids for the supply of 200,000 multicrystalline solar cells of 4.50W and 4.60W capacity under the domestic content requirement (DCR) category ...