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The German battery manufacturer will make products for electric trucks and buses at the facility, which is expected to employ 200 workers and produce 400 megawatt-hours of batteries annually.

With Karnataka withdrawing open access waivers and the policy not replicated elsewhere, corporate buyers are increasingly favouring group captive projects that are exempt from the cross-subsidy surcharge—the largest and most unpredictable component of grid charges for open access power.

Indian solar manufacturers are facing a double whammy with USA removing preferential trade status for India and safeguard duty imposed by India nearing fall to 20% from July 2019. Struggling to find domestic as well as export markets, they expect the government to focus on policy direction, not just expenditure.

Global bids are now invited to set up 2 GW of solar manufacturing capacity linked to 6 GW of inter-state-connected solar power projects. The projects—to be developed on ‘build-own-operate’ basis—shall be awarded through tariff-based competitive bidding followed by e-reverse auction. Tariff ceiling is fixed at Rs 2.75/kWh for a period of 25 years. Bidding closes on July 26.

The state is hoping for 10.7 GW of renewable energy generation capacity by 2022 and rooftop solar is set to play a big role.

Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd has invited bids to set up 750 MW grid-connected solar projects at 1 GW Dholera Solar Park, and 200 MW projects at 700 MW Raghanesda Solar Park. Tariff ceiling for the projects is set as Rs 2.75/kWh and Rs 2.65/kWh, respectively. Bidding closes on July 24.

Situated in Sirsa district, the group captive solar project is in line with CleanMax Solar’s mission to more than double its customer base from 120 corporates to 300 by 2022.

The reference capital cost for developing solar projects in Karnataka has risen this year despite continuing falls in component prices.

Earlier, the state had planned to set up floating solar plants at Ujani and Irai dams but had to shelve the projects due to ambiguity on the project implementation as well as revenue sharing, and the high cost involved, respectively.

Though electric vehicles are up to 67% less emissions intensive than gasoline cars, their competitiveness depends on many factors like the source of electricity used for vehicle and battery manufacturing and charging. Given that India still has a high share of coal or other fossil fuels in its power mix, electrifying the current car taxi fleet would help it cut emissions faster than incentivising the use of privately owned EVs because of the taxis’ greater utilisation in terms of miles travelled.