Coal news and updates

After setting the power distribution segment on a reform road, the Union government is planning to rescue the languishing hydro power sector, with a three-pronged approach.

 

The first move would be to increase the ambit of small hydro projects to 100 Mw from current 25 Mw. This would help achieve the renewable energy (RE) targets of states and also bring a large number of projects under the net of government subsidy and other tax benefits.

 

The installed capacity of hydro power projects has remained 40,000 Mw for the past three years, while that of the renewable energy sector has increased about 20 per cent in the same period. In the past decade, RE (solar and wind power) has grown by 89 per cent, while hydro has staggered at 28 per cent.