Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Statkraft, Actis eye Equis’ Indian hydroelectric assets

Norwegian state-owned power company Statkraft AS and global private equity (PE) fund Actis Llp are separately looking to acquire the Indian hydroelectric assets of Singapore’s Equis Pte. Ltd, valued at around ₹2,700 crore, said one person aware of the development, requesting anonymity. Equis-owned Hydreq owns and operates two hydroelectric plants in Sikkim, which produce a combined 220 megawatts (MW).... Read more..

India needs policy on solar waste management, manufacturing standards: Report

The government needs to bring out a policy on solar module waste management and standards for use of material for manufacturing, according to consultancy Bridge To India on Thursday.

"There is an urgent need to formulate appropriate quality standards for use of environmentally sustainable materials in manufacturing of modules. This will help in minimising potentially hazardous end-of-life module waste in... Read more..

ReNew Power, NTPC eye PTC India's wind power business

ReNew Power Ltd, India’s largest clean energy company, and state-run power utility NTPC Ltd have shown interest in the ongoing sale process of PTC India Ltd.’s wind power business, said two people aware of the development, requesting anonymity.

“ReNew Power and NTPC have been involved in talks with the company for the last few weeks and the two are expected to soon submit binding bids for acquiring the... Read more..

Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Factory at Sanand Gujarat Is Now a Gold Certified Green Building

HCCB (Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd) – one of India’s largest FMCG companies – today announced that the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has awarded the Gold certificate to its newest factory at Sanand, Gujarat. The factory - a fully digital and world-class facility, became operational in mid-2018. The Sanand factory is only 1 of 9 Gold certified Green Buildings (Factories) amongst the FMCG / Food industrial facilities in India. It is also the only factory run by HCCB, which employs more than 40%... Read more..

Lower capacity utilisation hits wind turbine manufacturers

The less-than-anticipated demand for wind turbines in the country has resulted in capacity under-utilisation and has badly hitwind energy equipment manufacturers in the country.

According to data compiled by the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association, the country has the ability to produce equipment for adding 10,000 MW of wind power generation capacity every year. Comparably, 1,700 MW of wind power... Read more..

Electric Vehicles body seeks to delink localisation from subsidy incentives

The Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) on Tuesday urged the project implementation and sanctioning committee (PISC) to delink localisation and ex-showroom prices of e-bikes from subsidy under the FAME-II scheme.

In a letter to the committee, which is likely to hold its first meeting in the national capital this week, the SMEV has also recommended enhancing per KwHr subsidy to Rs 20,000 from... Read more..

ReNew Power commissions 300 MW solar plant in Karnataka

ReNew Power on Wednesday announced commissioning of its 300 MW solar plant at Pavagada Solar Park in Tumkur district of Karnataka. This is ReNew Power's largest solar plant commissioned in terms of capacity till date and will help mitigate 0.6 million tonne of CO2 emission per year, a company statement said.

ReNew has a solar portfolio of nearly 3 GW across India, including both commissioned and projects... Read more..

Renewable energy sector attracts FDI worth $7.48 billion since April 2000

According to a report by the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the country's renewable energy sector attracted foreign direct investments (FDI) worth $7.48 billion between April 2000 and December 2018.

The IBEF report pegs new investments in clean energy space worth $11.1 billion in calendar 2018, sourcing data from the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) and leading consultancy KPMG.... Read more..

Essel Infra puts EV plans on hold as debt resolution gets priority

Subhash Chandra-led Essel Infraprojects Ltd has halted plans to build electric vehicles, and is looking to first reduce its debt of ₹11,466 crore, said three people directly aware of the development, requesting anonymity.

Last year, Essel Infra had announced investments of ₹3,500 crore to develop electric vehicles, including electric buses and three-wheelers, besides setting up related... Read more..

Finally, both BJP and Congress manifestos talk climate change

2019 is the first time that climate change has featured in the manifestoes of India’s two major political parties, the Indian National Congress (INC) and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).

The BJP, which released its manifesto on April 8, 2019, has not only underlined the issue of climate change but also the effort it has been making to tackle the challenges related to it.

... Read more..

Employment, environment burning issue in cool Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu

New island rules make green activists worried

The union environment ministry has notified island protection zone (IPZ) 2019 for Andaman and Nicobar, which allows eco-tourism projects 20 metres from the high tide line (HTL) in smaller islands like Baratang, Havelock and Car Nicobar, and at 50 metres in larger ones, and relaxed other norms, triggering concern among some green activists.

The notification, published on March 8, relaxes development norms in the islands compared to the IPZ notification of 2011, which stipulated a no-development zone (NDZ) of 200 metres from the HTL for all islands.

This brings the norms for... Read more..