The Tamil Nadu Government has sought Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh’s intervention to ensure the Union Finance Ministry clears a grant of Rs 1,500 crore the State needs to build transmission infrastructure for renewable energy.

The Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa, said in a letter to the Prime Minister, the State Government has plans to invest Rs 3,758 crore in two phases to set up 400 kV sub-stations and related infrastructure including transmission lines.

The transmission projects for renewable power, a green energy corridor, cleared by the Ministry of New and renewable Energy, Central Electricity Authority and recommended by the Union Planning Commission, are eligible for an Rs 1,500-crore grant from the National Clean Energy Fund.

The fund set up by the Union Government with guidelines framed by the Finance Ministry cover assistance to power evacuation infrastructure for renewable power projects.

The Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation submitted three projects developed in coordination with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to be set up at a total cost of Rs 5,998 crore. Two of the proposals were cleared.

However, on May 18, the Inter Ministerial Group chaired by the Finance Secretary, Government of India, had taken the stand that transmission schemes for renewable energy cannot be supported by the Fund. On July 19, the Ministry had written to the group to reconsider its stand on the issue.

Tamil Nadu has 7,145 MW of wind power capacity and plans to increase this capacity by an additional 5,000 MW in the next five years.

However, constraints in transmission infrastructure prevents the State from fully exploiting this resource, she said. The State Government is going ahead with its own resources for the other project.

balaji.ar@thehindu.co.in

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