The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has announced the extension of the off-grid and decentralised solar photovoltaic (PV) applications programme phase-III till 31 March, 2021. The Ministry added that during the extended period, the sanction of new projects under the Scheme will be available only in the northeastern region.
The Centre is yet to announce new economic growth and budgetary estimates for 2020-21 in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting nationwide lockdown. However, the Finance Ministry is internally projecting FY21 GDP growth to be around 2-3%, down from the 6-6.5% given in the 2019-20 Economic Survey.
Industry body FICCI has suggested various measures like infrastructure status to the steel industry, zero duty on critical raw materials, and another three-month moratorium to revive the sector, which has been impacted by the lockdown.
India’s solar and gas-fired electricity generation rose in April even as overall power demand fell at the steepest monthly rate in at least thirteen years, a Reuters analysis of provisional government data showed.
Solar-powered electricity generation rose 16.9%, accounting for a record 5.6% of the country’s total output, while gas-fired power output was 13.7% higher, an analysis of daily load despatch data from state-run power operator POSOCO showed. However, wind-powered electricity generation fell 11.4%.
The Prime Minister asked coal and mines ministries to roll out the next wave of reforms for attracting big-ticket investments, domestic processing of minerals and substituting imported thermal coal with inventory of domestic output for building self-reliance in these areas.