NTPC Renewable Energy has invited bids for land and an extra high voltage transmission system package to develop interstate transmission system-connected solar power projects of up to 800 MW capacity in Maharashtra. The last date for the submission of bids is January 16, 2023. Bids will be opened the same day. The land-related tasks for the proposed solar power project in Maharashtra’s Solapur region involve securing five acres/MW of leasehold or freehold land. Access roads to the project boundary and potential interconnections between plots must be established independently or with state machinery.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation has issued a request for proposal to set up 100 MW (±5%) wind power projects in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra on a lumpsum turnkey basis. The scope of work includes setting up 25 MW (±5%) wind projects across two lots each in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Each lot must have a cumulative capacity of 25 MW (±5%), with a maximum of two sites having 10 (±5%) MW at any one site.

REC Power Development and Consultancy has floated a tender to set up 250 MW Inter-State Transmission System-connected solar power projects anywhere in India with an additional greenshoe option of 250 MW. The last date for the submission of bids is December 29, 2023. Bids will be opened on January 2, 2024. The projects will developed under the program for flexibility in generating and scheduling thermal or hydropower stations through bundling with renewable energy and storage.

Goa Energy Development Agency has invited bids to develop a 2.25 MW ground-mounted solar power project with virtual net metering on a turnkey basis at Mormugao Port under the capital expenditure model. The last date to submit the bids is December 26, 2023. Bids will be opened on December 29.

Subsidies worth ₹52.28 billion (~$627 million) have been disbursed to electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers on the sale of ~1.15 million EVs, as of December 2023, in a bid to improve faster adoption of EVs in India, Ministry of Heavy Industries informed the Lok Sabha. The subsidies are under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase II program that came into force in April 2019 to support the electrification of public and shared transportation.

Graphite India, a graphite electrode manufacturer, has entered into a definitive transaction to invest ₹500 million (~$6 million) in compulsory convertible preference shares of GODI India, a battery technology company. GODI India, backed by Blue Ashva Capital, specializes in advanced chemistry research and development to support the manufacturing of sustainable batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and supercapacitor-based energy storage systems.

Prices of lithium-ion battery packs have dropped by 14% to a record low of $139/kWh this year due to falling raw material and component prices, research firm BloombergNEF has found. The prices have dropped even as production capacity increased across all parts of the battery value chain. Battery pack prices saw an unprecedented rise to $151/kWh in 2022.

In an exclusive interview with Mercom India, Sharad Pungalia, MD & CEO of Amplus Solar,discusses the company’s approach to servicing its diversified portfolio of commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers transitioning to clean energy sources. He explains how the company has switched to wind-solar hybrid with storage projects to address the limitations of the new energy banking policies introduced by various states.