The central government has cleared projects and schemes totalling Rs 31,000 crore to boost investment in the languishing power sector. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved two thermal power and two hydropower projects, a hydropower scheme and a revival scheme for stressed assets on Thursday, probably the last Cabinet meeting before the Lok Sabha elections.
Hydropower has been devoid of investment for a decade. In this segment, any projects above 25 Mw in capacity would now come under the category of renewable energy. This would entail a hydro power purchase obligation on states and get it priority status. With this, India would achieve one of the targets it has committed to under the global climate change treaty for reducing of emissions — sourcing 40 per cent of its total energy consumption from renewable sources.
