New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has granted exemption to NTPC Limited from the extant guidelines of delegation of power to Maharatna CPSEs for making investment in NTPC Green Energy Limited (NGEL), a subsidiary company of NTPC Ltd. The CCEA also exempted NGEL’s investment in NTPC Renewable Energy Limited (NREL) and its other JVs and subsidiaries subject to a ceiling of 15 per cent of its net worth beyond the monetary ceiling of Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 7,500 crore towards achieving a target of 60 GW renewable energy (RE) Capacity by NTPC Limited.
In line with its commitment in COP 26, India is working towards a low carbon emission path while meeting its development goals. The country is aiming to reach 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030. As a Central Public Sector Enterprise and the leading Power Utility of the country. NTPC, through this investment in the RE sector, aims to add 60 GW of Renewable Energy Capacity by 2032 which will help the country in achieving the aforesaid target and move towards a larger aim of having ‘Net Zero’ emissions by 2070. The enhanced target is in line with the government’s ‘Panchamrit’ recently announced at COP 26 Summit as India’s contribution to climate action towards ‘Net Zero.’
NGEL aims to be the flag bearer of NTPC’s renewable energy journey and presently has 15 RE assets of 2,861 MW which are operational or nearing commercial operation date (COD) and through its subsidiary NREL is set to expand its RE portfolio by participating in competitive bidding and multiple emerging opportunities in green energy business.
The exemption given to NTPC will aid in improving India’s global image as a green economy. It will also decrease India’s dependency on conventional sources of energy by diversifying India’s energy generation and will also decrease the country’s coal import bills. Further, it will also help in ensuring 24 x 7 power supply to each and every corner of the country. The renewable energy project will also generate direct and indirect employment opportunities to the local people at construction stage as well as during operation and management stage. /BI/
