Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Government clarifies tax on solar power equipment, parts at 5%

The government will levy a 5 per cent tax on all equipment required for generating solar power compared with nil duty now, a government official clarified, putting an end to confusion about the new taxation policy for the industry after its landmark tax reform.

"All solar equipments and its parts would attract 5 per cent GST only," Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said in a tweet on Sunday, contrary to the... Read more..

Odisha to electrify 406 villages through solar power in 2017

Odisha government has set a target to electrify at least 406 villages through solar power during 2017 after providing similar facilities to 1620 villages so far. This was revealed by Odisha’s Science and Technology Minister Badri Narayan Patra while addressing a press conference on completion of the three years in office by the Biju Janata Dal government. Claiming that the state run Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OERDA) has played a vital role in providing renewable energy to the people living in... Read more..

ACME launches India’s first electric vehicle charging station

Solar power developer ACME Group today said the company has launched India’s first battery swapping and charging station for electric vehicles.

The company said it has provided battery swapping and charging stations 'EcoCharge' to taxi aggregator Ola for their pilot project at Nagpur in which 200 vehicles including bus, auto and car--- all running on electricity was launched in the first stage on May 26,... Read more..

India Power commissions 36-mw solar plant in Uttarakhand

India Power Corporation commissioned a solar power plant of 36 MegaWatt (MW) in Uttarakhand investing Rs 225 crore.

This follows its successful acquisition of 1,000 MW thermal power plant of Meenakshi Energy, owned by the French power giant ENGIE, the company said in a statement.

According to the statement... Read more..

Visakhapatnam railway station to get solar units soon

In an attempt to go green, the Waltair railway division is planning to set up roof-top solar plants at the city railway stations and other offices in public private partnership (PPP mode).
One bidder from Renew Solar Power Private Limited, Gurgaon, has been finalised with which the Waltair railway division will have a tie-up for 25 years.

The division which has signed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)... Read more..

GST Council may clarify on tax rate for solar modules at 3 June meeting

The goods and services tax (GST) Council is likely to clarify on the tax rate applicable to solar modules at its next meeting in early June, which might reverse a decision to set an 18% rate on the key component of solar energy infrastructure, company executives say.

Under the final GST rates, which takes effect on 1 July, solar modules have been classified under an 18% tax slab; the present effective tax... Read more..

Orange city Nagpur gets India's first fleet of electric vehicles

The Orange City has become India’s first city to have electric mass mobility system. It will have a fleet of 200 electric vehicles including taxis, buses, e-rickshaw and autorickshaws, all of which will be fully owned by cab aggregator Ola.

Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, inaugurated India’s first multi-modal electric vehicle... Read more..

In 2 years, 13,523 villages electrified; only 8% completely

As many as 73 per cent of the 18,452 villages that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government identified for electrification in 2015 now have power supply, but only eight per cent of these had all their households electrified, according to the governments own data.

As of May 25, 13,523 villages have been electrified, but 100 per cent household connectivity has been achieved in only 1,089 villages, according... Read more..

Hero Future Energies to set up solar charging stations for electric vehicles

Hero Future Energies Pvt. Ltd, a company promoted by the Munjal family, plans to enter the battery storage business and set up charging stations to tap India’s emerging electric vehicles (EV) market, chief executive officer Sunil Jain said.

The plan comes at a time when the ‘Bharat Charger’ specifications for electric vehicles are being firmed up. The department of heavy industries (DHI) has submitted its... Read more..

200 MW solar projects to come up at major ports

The Union Shipping Ministry, in an effort to reduce the carbon footprint of 13 major public ports, is planning to set up solar power projects with up to 200 MW capacity.

The Indian Ports Association (IPA) will do the project planning while the ports will finance the plants through internal accruals and debt that could include dollar-denominated loans. So far, major ports have already commissioned 16... Read more..

NGT directs conditional reopening of textile units in Rajasthan

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has permitted the conditional reopening of 578 textile units in Pali district of Rajasthan with an assurance that any direction passed by the tribunal has to be complied with, reported a national news portal.
 
These textile units are engaged in dyeing and printing of cloth. They were closed for the last eight months for violating pollution norms, reported a national news portal.
 
The Bandi river of the district was being polluted due to the untreated... Read more..

4,000 cities to get new litter bins for waste segregation: PM Modi

In a renewed push to Swachh Bharat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that 4,000 towns will see new litter bins for segregated waste on June 5, the World Environment Day.

“Two types of waste bins will be available in green and blue colour, for liquid and dry waste. If we follow discipline, then the waste bins will collect dry garbage in blue waste bins and liquid garbage in green waste bins,” Modi... Read more..