Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Mega textile cluster to come up near Mysuru

At the recently held National Vendor’s Meet, Pratap Simha, MP of Mysuru recently announced that a mega textile cluster will soon come up in the suburbs of Mysuru, and work for the same is expected to commence next month. The initial investment of Rs. 30 crore has been laid out for the proposed cluster. The project will be implemented via Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) mode.

The proposal for five industry-... Read more..

UK Climate Investments to pour GBP 200m in India, Africa

A green joint venture between the UK government-backed Green Investment Bank Plc (GIB) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will invest up to GBP 200 million (USD 304m/EUR 284m) in India and Africa.

The announcement was made last week, as part of a package of collaboration on energy and climate change agreed by the two countries during the Indian prime minister's visit to the UK.

The joint venture, called UK Climate Investments, will invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in developing nations, with the initial target regions being India,... Read more..

Delhi to lead Centre’s ‘solar city’ initiative

If all goes as planned then Delhi will soon lead the 55 cities being developed as “solar cities” under the Centre’s Smart City initiative. Central Delhi, which has been identified for the project, is likely to harness as much as 1.8 megawatt (MW) of solar energy by March next year.

To implement the Solar City project in posh Central Delhi, the area’s civic body-cum-discom New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is working on a detailed proposal to increase the region’s proposed solar power generation by an additional 5 MW. For the first phase, the civic agency has already identified... Read more..

Inox Wind Commissions 800 MW at Its Integrated Manufacturing Facility in Madhya Pradesh

Inox Wind Limited has announced the commissioning of its 800 MW blade facility at its state of the art integrated manufacturing unit at Barwani district in the state of Madhya Pradesh.  The unit will have an annual production capacity of 400 rotor blade sets and eventually also have an annual manufacturing capacity of 400 nacelles and hubs, 300 towers and will double Inox Wind’s production capacity to 1,600 MW.  The manufacturing plant, which will be amongst the largest in Asia and billed to be the largest in India, will drive investments and economic growth in Madhya Pradesh and provide... Read more..

Solar Prices Could Be 10% Less Than Coal In India By 2020

KPMG has released a report stating that by 2020 solar power in India could cost about 10% less than coal power, saying “Solar power price declines have beaten the expectations of most analysts since the beginning of 2015. In the ongoing NTPC solar park tender, solar prices have breached the INR 5/kwh and this is a landmark for the energy sector. Today, in India, solar prices are within 15% of power prices on a levelized basis. Our forecast is that by 2020, solar power prices could be up to 10% lower than coal power prices.” You can read the full report, titled ‘The Rising Sun –... Read more..

New groundwater extraction rules leave industrialists worried

A new rule imposing restrictions by the Central Ground Water Authority to check the growing depletion of groundwater level has left the industry worried and confused.

The leather industry, which is one of the largest guzzlers of water, is concerned about the new rule. “It’s not easy to implement and could lead to large-scale malpractice with the state government as the implementing agency,” says Rajesh Kumar, who has leather and meat by-product factories in Uttar Pradesh.

Hydro geologists too are unimpressed. “It is a marked improvement over the last rule but it concentrates... Read more..

India, UK strike 3.2 bn pound deal on energy, climate change

 Ahead of the Paris climate summit, India and Britain have agreed on a comprehensive package of collaboration on energy and climate change which includes commercial deals worth 3.2 billion pounds.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ongoing UK visit, the two countries reaffirmed the importance of addressing climate change and promoting secure, affordable and sustainable supplies of energy that will support economic growth, energy security and energy access.

“The UK and India’s partnership on energy is going from strength to strength. We share world-class expertise in... Read more..

Dyeing units of Rajasthan set to reopen soon

Earlier this year in May, The National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) Circuit Bench of Jodhpur had ordered closure of 739 textile units in Balotra and its surrounding areas of Jasol, Bithuja in Rajasthan for non-adherence to norms laid down by Pollution Control Board. The weaving clusters in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, accounting to over 70% of the powerlooms in the country and also the handloom clusters which were utilizing the dyeing facilities in Rajasthan were seriously affected consequent to the closure of dyeing units in Rajasthan. This created piling up of fabric stocks and affected the... Read more..

Venture-backed Azure Power to raise $110m debt from existing investor IFC for solar project in India

International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector lending arm of the World Bank, will invest up to $111 million in Azure Power India Pvt Ltd (Azure) for its 130 MW solar power plant in Karnataka.

Already backed by IFC, Azure also counts Helion Venture Partners, Foundation Capital, DEG, Proparco and IFC Global Infrastructure Fund as its shareholders.

The fresh investment includes a loan of up to $31 million and a syndication of parallel loan of up to $80 million, IFC said, in a disclosure.

The proposed loan will help Azure to develop its plant in Karnataka... Read more..

Gamesa commissions 9MW solar project in Tamil Nadu

Gamesa, a global renewable energy company, on Wednesday commissioned its maiden solar project in India. The 9MW turnkey solar project was commissioned in Vedachandur, near Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

"We are globally renowned for our expertise and technical prowess in harnessing both sun and wind, and hence our foray into solar has been a natural progression and will be carried out even more meticulously. With a strong backing of skilled workforce and unparalleled O&M service network, we are confident of achieving many more MWs in the coming years," said Ramesh Kymal, chairman and MD,... Read more..

Jaguar Announces Spunky Electric SUV

The immediate popularity of the sold-out Tesla Model X is the spark that will light the fuse for an explosion of electric SUV models from the world’s automakers. Audi plans to have its Q6 e-tron quattro ready by 2018. Volvo has just converted its XC90 to electric power. According to Autocar, Jaguar says it intends to crash the party in 2017 with a 4-motor electric SUV featuring “... Read more..

India Innovation Lab to call for funding ideas

The India Innovation Lab for Green Finance, part of the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, will call for funding ideas from November 23.

“Examples might be credit enhancement of renewable energy projects to attract institutional investors, or tools to reduce the cost of currency hedging to attract more foreign investment. The India Innovation Lab will apply the successes and lessons learned through its sister initiative, the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, to India’s unique challenges and opportunities,” a statement from the organisation said.

The ideas... Read more..