National Solar Mission

To develop solar energy as an effective alternative source of power, the government of India, on 11 January 2010, launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), under the brand name "Solar India”. The main target of the Mission is to deploy 20,000 MW of grid connected solar power by 2022. Besides, JNNSM is also working on reducing the cost of solar power generation through aggressive R&D, development of critical raw materials indigenously, and formulation of large scale deployment goals.

JNNSM is a major initiative to promote ecologically sustainable growth and, at the same time, address the energy security challenges faced by India.

The infrastructure and technology cost to develop solar energy parks is very high at the moment, as compared to the power sources such as coal, and even oil. For solar energy to become one of the prime sources, it is important that rapid scale-up of capacity and technologies is achieved so that the cost can be driven-down towards parity with current sources of power. It is hoped that JNNSM will achieve parity with coal-based thermal plants by 2030.

The Mission is also encouraging use of number of off-grid solar applications, especially in the rural areas, which are already cost-effective.

The government today opened the financial bids for developing 750 MW solar energy capacity under the national solar mission, with private players such as SEI, Azure Power and ACME cornering substantial number of projects. 

These players had bid for projects under the first batch of the second phase of ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). 

SEI as well as Azure Power India have bagged projects of about 100 MW each, while ACME Solar would develop 80 MW solar capacity under this programme. 

Indicating strong interest, bids for 2,170 MW solar capacity were received as against the 750 MW capacity on offer under the second phase. 

Half of the total capacity would be developed using domestic content while the remaining half is in open category, where imported equipment could also be used. 

In a statement, ACME Solar said it has been selected as developer for 80 MW solar PV projects. The firm has emerged as the largest developer in the open category. 

ACME Solar Chairman Manoj Kumar Upadhyay said the success of JNNSM'S second phase is a momentous occasion for all stakeholders in achieving the goal of clean and green energy. 

He said the company looks forward to support from all stakeholders to help "us actively contribute" in achieving the target of generating 22,000 MW solar power by year 2022. 

ACME Solar is a joint venture between ACME, French entity EDF Energies Nouvelles and Luxembourg-based EREN. 

As many as 63 companies were eligible to make financial bids under the second phase after they cleared the techno- commercial evaluation stage. 

Solar Energy Corporation of India, under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, is the nodal agency for the second phase of JNNSM. 

Earlier this month, the US challenged the mandatory use of domestic equipment for projects under India's solar mission. 

It alleged that the requirement was discriminatory and against international norms, including World Trade Organisation (WTO) laws, and affects US solar panel manufacturers.

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