Cabinet approves Rs 12,000 cr for 2nd phase of Green Energy Corridor

The government on Thursday approved the second phase of the Green Energy Corridor with an outlay of Rs 12,031 crore to facilitate grid integration and power evacuation of about 20 GW of renewable energy projects in seven states.

"The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today approved the scheme on Green Energy Corridor (GEC) Phase-II for Intra-State Transmission System (InSTS) for addition of approximately 10,750 circuit kilometres (ckm) of transmission lines and approx. 27,500 Mega Volt-Amperes (MVA) transformation capacity of substations," an official statement said.

The scheme will facilitate grid integration and power evacuation of about 20 GW of renewable energy (RE) projects in seven states -- Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

Announcing the decision, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said the second phase will be implemented during 2021-22 to 2025-26 fiscal years.

The minister added that 80 per cent of the phase one work has been completed. The outlay of the first phase was Rs 10,142 crore.

The statement said the scheme (Phase-II) is targeted to be set up with total estimated cost of Rs 12,031.33 crore. The Central Financial Assistance (CFA) will be 33 per cent of the project cost, that is Rs 3,970.34 crore.

The CFA will help in offsetting the intra-state transmission charges and keep the power costs down. Thus, the government support will ultimately benefit the end users, it added.

The scheme will help in achieving the target of 450 GW installed RE capacity by 2030.

It will also contribute to long-term energy security of the country and promote ecologically sustainable growth by reducing the carbon footprint.

Besides, it will generate large direct and indirect employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled personnel in power and other related sectors, the statement said.

This scheme is in addition to GEC Phase-I which is already under implementation in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu for grid integration and power evacuation of about 24 GW of RE.

It is expected to be completed this year.

The Phase-I is for addition of 9,700 ckm of transmission lines and 22,600 MVA capacity of substations having estimated cost of transmission projects of Rs 10,141.68 crore, with CFA of Rs 4,056.67 crore.