Next phase of Green Energy Corridor to cover 10,000 ckm: Pralhad Joshi

The Centre is planning the next phase of the Green Energy Corridor, spanning 10,000 circuit km, to strengthen renewable power evacuation and support India's energy transition

India has started planning the next phase of the Green Energy Corridor (GEC) project, covering 10,000 circuit km of transmission network to evacuate large volumes of renewable power from generating regions to consumption centres, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said while addressing industry at the CII Energy Conference.

 

He added that the ministry released Rs 787 crore last year for the development of transmission infrastructure to support renewable energy evacuation.

 

Joshi said the ministry is set to launch the next version of the PM KUSUM scheme for the solarisation of agricultural pump sets. "We have released more than Rs 3,800 crore as incentives to distribution companies and Rs 104 crore to urban local bodies," Joshi said.

   

He said the government has also launched the Renewable Energy Equipment Import Monitoring System and revised the Renewable Consumption Obligation (RCO) compliance framework under the Energy Conservation Act. "State-level renewable purchase obligation (RPO) targets have now been subsumed within the unified RCO framework," Joshi said.

 

For wind energy, around 66 sites across windy states have been identified and classified into three categories: no-clearance-required zones, clearance-required zones and no wind turbine generation zones, he added.

 

Further, he urged industry to invest in research and development. He said IIT Bombay has made a discovery in perovskite solar cell technology, which the industry must take forward and deploy. "Prime Minister Modi has given us the target to reduce logistics costs and manufacturing costs," he added.

 

Joshi also said that 30.5 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity was added between January and June 2026, 25 per cent higher than in the corresponding period last year. In the past two years, 90 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity has been added.

 

Speaking at the same event, ReNew Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sumant Sinha said grid bottlenecks are the biggest constraint to the country's energy transition. On energy storage, he said that while battery prices have fallen by a third over the past one-and-a-half years, there is a need for batteries that are economical for longer-duration storage.

 

"This will increase the applicability of clean energy in many downstream areas," he said, adding that a large domestic manufacturing base is needed for batteries and their components.

 

Tata Power Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Praveer Sinha, who was also present at the event, said the success of green hydrogen requires power costs to come down, and there has to be a policy push alongside technology and cost support.

 

Highlighting the opportunity in electrification, he said the country's share of electricity in the overall energy mix is only about 15 per cent, compared with 30-35 per cent globally.