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					</table><p>The Tripura Renewable Energy Department Agency (<a href="https://treda.nic.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TREDA</a>) has invited bids for a pre-feasibility report for a pumped hydro storage project in the state.</p>
<p>Bids must be submitted by January 30, 2025. Bids will be opened on the same day.</p>
<p>Bidders must furnish an earnest money deposit of ₹165,200 (~$1,911) and a non-refundable tender fee of ₹1,500 (~$17.36).</p>
<p>Selected bidders must survey and prepare feasibility studies, alternative study reports, and detailed pre-feasibility reports for the project. They must complete these tasks within 90 days of the agreement’s execution.</p>
<p>Key submission deadlines include a site visit and inception report within 30 days, an alternative study report within 60 days, a draft pre-feasibility report within 70 days, and the final report within 90 days.</p>
<p>Successful bidders must provide a performance bank guarantee of 5% of the total contract value, valid for four months, and a 60-day claim period.</p>
<p>The project’s estimated cost is ₹6.608 million (~$76,478).</p>
<p>The project is expected to be in Santipur or Thalikapur in Sakhan, North Tripura district. The final location will be confirmed upon receiving the letter of award.</p>
<p>Bidders must have completed or been engaged in at least three project management units/agencies/consultancy services in pumped storage or renewable energy projects with a cumulative value of ₹15 million (~$174,840) over the last five financial years.</p>
<p>Bidders must have a positive net worth and a minimum average annual turnover of ₹3.3 million (~$38,517) for any four of the last five financial years.</p>
<p>The Tripura government aims to generate 500 MW of renewable energy by 2030 to meet future energy requirements. TREDA has targeted the installation of ground-mounted grid-connected solar, rooftop, and floating solar projects, mini-grid and micro-grid solar and pumped hydro storage projects to achieve 500 MW goal by 2030.</p>
<p>In January 2024, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/government-solar-program-tribal-areas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">received</a> the President of India’s approval to implement a new solar power program with an outlay of ₹5.15 billion (~$61.9 million) for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups habitations and villages under the Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan. The program will be implemented in Tripura, and 18 other states.</p>
<p>In February 2022, TREDA <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/bids-invited-rooftop-solar-tripura" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> an engineering, procurement, and construction tender to develop 1 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects under the renewable energy service company model at various government buildings in the state.</p>



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					</table><p>The <a href="https://odisha.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Odisha government</a> has approved proposals by five companies to set up solar cell and module manufacturing facilities and a pumped hydro storage project with a total investment of ₹126.51 billion (~$1.49 billion).</p>
<p>These project proposals were approved at the second high-level clearance authority meeting, which cleared ₹1.37 trillion (~$16.21 billion) worth of projects across various sectors, including renewable energy.</p>
<p>Kolkata-based<a href="https://jil-jupiter.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Jupiter International</a> received approval for a ₹20.05 billion (~$237.33 million) 4 GW solar cell and module manufacturing project utilizing TOPCon technology in Khurdha. The project is expected to be commissioned by the fourth quarter of the financial year (FY) 2025-26. This would be in addition to the 1.3 GW TopCon solar cell manufacturing project being <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/jupiter-1-2-gw-solar-cell-manufacturing-facility-odisha">executed</a> by the company in a joint venture with Ampin Energy.</p>
<p>Haryana-based <a href="https://saatvikgroup.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saatvik Solar Industries</a> will set up an ₹13.67 billion (~$161.81 million) 2.5GW/annum solar cell manufacturing facility, also in Khurdha. The project will manufacture N-Type TOPCon cells with an efficiency of 25.2% and modules. The project is expected to be commissioned in FY26</p>
<p>Saatvik will also establish another 1.5 GW/annum cell facility in FY27 and a 2 GW/ annum module manufacturing plant in FY26, with plans for expanding capacity by another 2 GW in FY27.</p>
<p>Delhi-based <a href="https://www.jakson.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jakson Engineers</a> won approval for a ₹13.54 billion (~$160.27 million) 2.25 GW solar cell manufacturing unit in Khurdha. The company will manufacture TOPCon solar cells at its facility, with plans to expand capacity when it explores perovskite technology. The project is expected to be commissioned in Q1 FY27.</p>
<p>Gujarat-based <a href="https://www.grew.one/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grew Energy</a> will set up a ₹45.3 billion (~$536.23 million) ingot wafer, solar cell, and module manufacturing project. The project will be located in Ganjam.</p>
<p>A state-owned public sector undertaking, Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (<a href="http://www.ohpcltd.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OHPC</a>) will set up a 600 MW PSP in Kalahandi at a cost of ₹33.94 billion (~$401.76 million). OHPC has planned to develop the project at the Balimela Hydro Electric Project, Upper Kolab Hydro Electric Project and Upper Indravati Hydro Electric Project.</p>
<p>In July, the Odisha Government <a href="https://mercomindia.com/in-clean-energy-push-odisha-worth-%E2%82%B9557-billion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> two major renewable energy projects with a combined investment of ₹4.11 billion (~$49.1 million).</p>
<p>In March 2024, the Odisha government <a href="https://mercomindia.com/in-clean-energy-push-odisha-worth-%E2%82%B9557-billion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gave</a> the green light to several green energy projects with a proposed investment of  ₹557 billion (~$6.7 billion).</p>


Odisha Greenlights Four Solar Cell and Module Manufacturing Facilities


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					</table><p>The Ministry of Power (<a href="https://powermin.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MoP</a>) has modified the provision of budgetary support for hydroelectric and Pumped Storage Projects (PSP), with a total outlay of ₹124.6 billion (~$1.48 billion).</p>
<p>The ministry will support projects of a cumulative hydroelectric capacity of 31 GW, including 15 GW of PSP capacity from the financial year 2024-25 to 2031-32.</p>
<p>The budgetary support is capped at ₹10 million (~$119,126)/MW for projects up to 200 MW and ₹2 billion (~$23.81 million) plus ₹7.5 million (~$89,345)/MW for projects exceeding 200 MW, with a potential increase to ₹15 million (~$178,676)/MW for exceptional cases.</p>
<p>The program applies to all hydropower projects of more than 25 MW capacity, including private sector projects allotted on a transparent bidding basis, all PSPs, including captive/merchant PSPs, and projects with letters of award for the first major package issued up to June 2028.</p>
<p>The budgetary support is towards the cost of enabling infrastructure, which will now include the following apart from the construction of roads and bridges:</p>
<ul>
<li>The transmission line from the powerhouse to the nearest pooling point, including upgrading pooling substations of the state or central transmission utility.</li>
<li>Ropeways</li>
<li>Railway sidings</li>
<li>Communication infrastructure</li>
</ul>
<p>Individual projects will receive support for the cost of enabling infrastructure after they are appraised by the Delegated Investment Board or Public Investment Board.</p>
<p>In August, the government <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/guidelines-pumped-storage-projects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> draft tariff-based bidding guidelines to procure stored energy from existing or under-construction PSPs. The minimum bid capacity for interstate transmission projects is 50 MW, and for intrastate transmission projects, it is 10 MW.</p>
<p>In the same month, the Central Electricity Authority <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/central-electricity-authority-approves-2600-mw-pumped-storage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> two PSPs with a cumulative capacity of 2,600 MW. The approved PSPs were the 600 MW Upper Indravati project in Odisha, which is being developed by the Odisha Hydro Power Corporation, and the 2,000 MW Sharavathy project in Karnataka, which Karnataka Power Corporation is developing.</p>


Pumped Storage Projects to Receive up to ₹17.5 Million/MW Budgetary Support


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					</table><p>In a significant move to accelerate India&#8217;s renewable energy capacity, the government has introduced several initiatives to expedite pumped storage projects (PSP) commissioning.</p>
<p>To streamline the concurrence process for Hydro PSPs, Central Electricity Authority (<a href="https://cea.nic.in/?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CEA</a>) has recently revamped the approval process for detailed project reports (DPR) of these projects.</p>
<p>Several key measures have been implemented to expedite clearances, including establishing a Single Window Clearance Cell by the CEA.</p>
<p>The Central Water Commission has appointed dedicated nodal officers to fast-track design clearances, while the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has nominated officers to accelerate geological approvals. Furthermore, involving GSI&#8217;s subordinate and field offices in states further enhances the efficiency of the clearance process.</p>
<p>Through collaborative efforts between the CEA, the <a href="https://powermin.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ministry of Power</a>, and the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (<a href="https://moef.gov.in/hi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MoEF&amp;CC</a>), significant progress has been made in expediting environmental clearances for PSPs.</p>
<p>The MoEF&amp;CC has agreed to appraise off-stream closed-loop PSPs based on specific terms of reference, simplifying the clearance process. Moreover, the MoEF&amp;CC has issued a notification to appraise PSPs situated on existing reservoirs under the B2 category, eliminating the need for environmental impact assessment under certain conditions. These considerations drastically reduce the time required to obtain environmental clearance for PSPs.</p>
<p>The CEA has also published revised guidelines for formulating and concurring DPRs for PSPs. Under the updated guidelines, the concurrence timeline for specific categories of PSPs has been reduced from 90 days to 50 days.</p>
<p>The scope of these guidelines includes PSPs awarded under Section 63 of the Electricity Act, 2003, and PSPs integrated within renewable energy projects. For other PSPs, the timeline for concurrence has been reduced from 125 days to 90 days.</p>
<p>Notably, the 1,350 MW Upper Sileru PSP in Andhra Pradesh, developed by the <a href="https://apgenco.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation</a>, received concurrence from CEA in just 70 days, well within the stipulated timeline of 90 days.</p>
<p>The identified potential of PSPs in the country is about 119 GW comprising 109 PSPs. Out of this, eight projects totaling 4.7 GW are under operation, and four projects totaling 2.8 GW are under construction.</p>
<p>CEA has given concurrence for two projects totaling 2.3 GW, and construction of these projects is slated to start shortly.</p>
<p>Further, 33 projects totaling 42 GW are under Survey and Investigation to prepare DPRs. Out of which, the MoEF&amp;CC has already given terms of reference to 22 projects.</p>
<p>Recognizing the pivotal role of PSPs in achieving the government&#8217;s ambitious target of installing 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030 and attaining net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, the country aims to commission 39 Hydro PSPs with a cumulative capacity of 47 GW by 2029-30. These projects play a vital role in integrating intermittent renewable energy with the grid, enabling the supply of dispatchable renewable power, and meeting peak demand requirements.</p>
<p>The Ministry of Power recently <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/guidelines-developing-pumped-storage-projects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> guidelines to regulate and promote the development of pumped storage projects in the country. These guidelines clarified the methods for allotment of project sites through competitive bidding and ruled out any upfront premium for project allocation to make it financially viable.</p>
<p>Last December, the Ministry <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/ministry-of-power-waives-ists-charges-hydropower-projects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> an order waiving the interstate transmission system charges on evacuating electricity from new hydropower projects in the country. This waiver is available to hydropower projects for which construction work is awarded, and power purchase agreements are signed by June 30, 2025.</p>


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