Government-owned Hindustan Salts has invited bids for the development of 1 gigawatt of solar power capacity.
inviting developers to set up and operate a 1 gigawatt solar power project in the western state of Gujarat. The company will provide 5,000 acres of land to the successful developers and charge them an annual rent.
Developers will be responsible for setting up power evacuation infrastructure and secure all approvals required for construction and operation of the solar power project.Following a push from the central government, many public sector companies have announced plans to set up large scale solar power projects. Companies with large areas of unused land, like Indian Railways and Coal India, have expressed interest and even issued tenders to set up projects.
A major reason behind this government-led push is that India is falling behind its renewable energy capacity target. The government had set a target to have 175 gigawatts of installed capacity by December 2022, including 100 gigawatts of solar power and 60 gigawatts of wind energy capacity. As of March 2022, solar power capacity was 54 gigawatts, while wind energy capacity was 40 gigawatts.