On June 17, 2020, The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has set up a Project Development Cell (PDC) under its joint secretary Amitesh Kumar Sinha to attract investment in clean energy, especially in the solar sector.
- Apart from Sinha, Director of MNRE Ruchin Gupta and other officials of Grid Solar Power Division and Invest India will have representatives in the cell.
What the PDC will do?
- This cell will offer for investment those renewable energy projects where all the necessary works like detailed project report, land availability etc. have been completed.
- The cell will identify the issues that need to be resolved to attract investment and to finalize it. The cell will refer those issues to the empowered group.
- Apart from this, the ministry is preparing a portal to receive proposals from the renewable energy sector. In this, there will be a system to get information about the steps taken on the proposals.
Benefits:
The cell will help meet centre’s 175 GW target for green energy capacity by 2022. As per the consultancy firm Bridge to India, India’s renewable generation capacity currently stands at around 90 GW.
Background:
Recently, the Central Government had approved the formation of an Empowered Group of Secretaries and Cells in the Ministries / Departments with the intention of attracting investment through development of investable projects in coordination with the Central and the States Governments.
It is to be noted that the Central Government had recently reviewed the FDI (foreign direct investment)policy for curbing opportunistic takeovers and acquisitions of Indian companies on the back of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
About Ministry of New & Renewable Energy:
Headquarters– New Delhi
Minister of State (Independent Charge)- Raj Kumar Singh
