Shadow on states' solar energy strategy

The discoms have a problem; as state government-funded entities, they are reluctant to add debt

Just a short drive away from the Kadapa solar park in Andhra Pradesh, where tariffs dipped to a record low of Rs 3.15 this week, is the unfinished coal-based Rayalaseema thermal power project. In the works since 2011, its sixth and largest unit of 600 Mw is yet to be commissioned.

As the price of solar power takes a deep dive, other fossil fuel power projects could follow the example of the Rayalaseema plant. There was 46,000 Mw of thermal and gas power capacity stranded across states as on March 31. The older projects are stranded, says Pankaj Batra,