Union Minister RK Singh denies KCR’s remarks on power issues

Hyderabad: Union Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy RK Singh on Tuesday clarified that the Central government was not forcing any State to buy renewable energy from any particular developer. “The States are free to hold their own bids and buy renewable energy from any developer based on those bids,” he said in a […]

Hyderabad: Union Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy RK Singh on Tuesday clarified that the Central government was not forcing any State to buy renewable energy from any particular developer. “The States are free to hold their own bids and buy renewable energy from any developer based on those bids,” he said in a statement, while responding to the remarks made by the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on power issues a few days ago. The Solar Energy Corporation of India also conducts open bids for renewable energy from time to time, he said.”

These bids are highly competitive with numerous companies competing and the companies which offer the least tariff are selected transparently through the open bid. Thereafter, States which desire to buy power from those bids do so as per their requirement. Whether they wish to purchase power at the rates finalised in the bids or not is entirely the States own decision. They can choose to have their own bids. Therefore, the statement by the Chief Minister was totally false,” Singh said.

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As far as the Renewable Energy Purchase Obligation (RPO) is concerned, this is part of an international commitment made by countries to carry out energy transition from fossil fuels to non-fossil fuel sources. “The whole world today is worried about the deteriorating environment, increasing emissions and global warming and all the major countries in the world have made commitments to move away from fossil fuel to non-fossil fuel and to reduce emissions by adopting renewables,” he said.

All major economies have pledged to achieve net-zero on different target dates. The developed countries have pledged to achieve net-zero by 2050. India has pledged to achieve net-zero by 2070. The transition to non-fossil fuels i.e. renewable energy is part of that commitment. Referring to Chief Minister’s remarks on hydro power, Singh said the hydro power capacity he is talking about have been and is being constructed because of loans given by the Central government companies – PFC and REC.

The two companies have together lent Rs 55,000 crore for Kaleshwaram, Palamuru and other projects. The Chief Minister should be thankful to the Central government for these projects.

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