India plans 1,300 MW of solar power by 2013

Indian minister for new and renewable energy Farooq Abdullah and minister for power Sushil Kumar Shinde jointly unveiled the guidelines for selection of solar power projects under the 1,000 megawatt (MW) solar power scheme in the first phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM).

With this, the government plans to generate a total of 1,300 MW of solar power in the first phase of the mission by 2013, including 1,000 MW large grid, 100 MW small grid and 200 MW off-grid power generation.

This would place India in the league of leaders in solar power production like Germany, Spain and Japan.

Abdullah said the small grid scheme launched recently attracted applications for nearly 400 MW, about four times the available capacity, and expects a similar response in the large grid connected scheme also from domestic and international companies.

NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), the nodal agency for the purchase of 1,000 MW of solar power from producers is expected to take immediate steps to bring out the expression of interest, invite applications and select eligible candidates under the new policy.

Under the JNNSM, the Indian government had set an ambitious target of 20,000 MW of solar power generation by 2022.