Renewable energy developers Adani Group, Greenko, ReNew Power and JSW Energy have lined up massive investments for solar, wind and hybrid energy projects in Rajasthan. This is seen fuelling the State’s ambitions to gain top slot in renewables space in India.
The developers have requested customised packages to set up large renewable projects, a top Rajasthan government official said confirming that Adani Group is setting up overall 11,700 MW solar and hybrid projects with investments of over ₹46,000 crore. JSW Group has proposed 10,000 MW solar project with an investment of ₹48,500 crore, another major ReNew Power (for 10,000 MW) and Greenko (for 4500 MW) with ₹30,000 crore investments by each for solar and hybrid projects.
“We have received applications from these companies for customised packages and concessions on local taxes, land allotment etc. These will be put before the board of investments headed by the chief minister, who will assess the suitability for the concessions,” said Subodh Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director, Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Ltd.
Investments of ₹2.75 lakh cr
“If every potential project comes on ground, Rajasthan will see total 70,729 MW of renewable projects attracting investments worth over ₹2.75-lakh crore. We may have started a little late (to attract renewable investments), but our pipeline of projects show that in next few years, we will have total capacities much ahead of other states,” Agarwal told
Giving an outline about new solar parks coming up in Rajasthan, Agarwal informed that three such solar parks are being set up with capacity of 3,175 MW spread across 7,232 hectares. The parks are being developed in PPP mode jointly with Government of Rajasthan and private players including Essel Infra and Adani Group.
Advantage Rajasthan
Rajasthan bets big on its natural advantage with highest solar radiation at 5.72 kWh/sq meter per day and 325 sunny days providing solar power potential of 142 Gw, which is about 19 per cent of 748 GW for India. The state is also looking to capitalise the open inter-state transmission scheme till 2023, which will encourage developers to set up plants in Rajasthan to supply power in other States.
“To capitalise on our natural advantage, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had last year rolled out supportive policy incentives and customised packages under the new solar energy policy and wind & hybrid energy policy, 2019. As a result of this, we are seeing a sharp jump in investments over past one year,” added Agarwal.
In near term, Rajasthan eyes 30,000 MW of renewable energy generation by 2024-25, which Agarwal is confident to achieve before time. “We have not revised our target as of now, but we are doing our homework based on the Prime Minister’s revised target for 175 GW by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030. We should be able to achieve 20 per cent of India’s target given the solar potential we have,” he said.
Rajasthan RE projects status as of February 2021