Torrent Power bags 306 MW solar project worth Rs 1,540 crore

Torrent Power on Thursday said it has bagged a contract from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd for setting up 306 MW solar projects worth Rs 1,540 crore under the PM-KUSUM Scheme.

The company in a statement said that the Letter of Award (LOA) for the project was handed over by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

"Torrent Power has emerged as a successful bidder and has received Letter of Award from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd (MSEDCL) on March 7, 2024, for setting up of 306 MW grid-connected solar power project, at 48 distributed locations, across Nasik District, Maharashtra," the statement said.

The project is conceived by MSEB Solar Agro Power Ltd (MSAPL) under Mukhya Mantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana 2.0 (MSKVY 2.0) scheme for implementation of feeder level solarisation under Component C of the PM-KUSUM scheme connected to the distribution network.

The project will be commissioned within 18 months at an estimated cost of Rs 1,540 crore.

The tariff for the project is Rs 3.10/kWh for the period of 25 years.

With the award of the 306 MW capacity, Torrent's renewable capacity under construction has increased to 1.7 GW. On completion of this project, the company's total renewable capacity will increase to 3 GW in the next 18-24 months.

The company stated that the Maharashtra government seeks to ensure stable daytime electricity to agriculture consumers through decentralised solar power projects.

To enable the development of the MSKVY 2.0 scheme, the Maharashtra government has taken a cluster wise approach whereby revenue land and certain approvals are already obtained by MSAPL directly into the Project SPVs.

Torrent will acquire 100 per cent of the equity shares of the Project SPV and will get the Central Finance Assistance (CFA) from the Central government for eligible capacity as per the terms of the PM KUSUM Scheme.