Punjab DISCOM to purchase 300 MW solar power at Rs 2.36/kWh from SECI

11 Jan 2024 CW Team

The tariff for procuring 300 MW of solar power has been approved by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) at Rs 2.36 /KWh. This decision comes in response to a petition submitted by the Punjab State Power Corporation (PSPCL).

In the initial stages, SECI had issued a tender for the establishment of 2,000 MW of inter-state transmission system (ISTS)-connected solar power projects across India under Tranche-IX. The auction winners, namely Solarpack Corporacion Technologica, Avikiran Surya, AMP Energy Green, Eden Renewable Bercy, IB Vogt Singapore, Ayana Renewable Power, and ReNew Solar Power, were granted the opportunity to develop these projects.

Following the auction, SECI filed a petition with the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to seek approval for adopting the discovered tariff. However, CERC opted to adopt the Rs 2.37 (~$0.029)/kWh tariff presented by Avikiran Surya for the procurement of 300 MW.

Upon this decision, SECI was directed to approach the Commission for the adoption of tariffs for the remaining capacity once the necessary agreements were finalized.

After the CERC?s directive, SECI proceeded to enter into power purchase agreements with the successful bidders. Power sale agreements were formalised for 1,400 MW, while the approval status for the remaining 300 MW remained pending.

The applicable tariffs encompass the tariff specified for the relevant successful bidder, along with a trading margin of Rs 0.07/kWh.

Infrastructure Transport

12 Mar 2026

Kavach 4.0 Commissioned on Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah

"Kavach version four has been commissioned on 1,452 route km, covering the high density Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah corridors. The rollout included laying 8,570 km of optical fibre, installation of 1,100 telecom towers, deployment of trackside equipment over 6,776 RKm and establishment of 767 station data centres. Trackside implementation has been taken up on 24,427 RKm covering Golden Quadrilateral, Golden Diagonal and High Density Network sections. The programme aims to strengthen signalling and train protection on key routes.Kavach is an indigenously developed automatic train protecti..

Railways Advance Kalyan–Murbad Line And Mumbai Capacity Expansion

"Indian Railways is advancing multiple rail infrastructure projects in Maharashtra, including the sanctioned Kalyan–Murbad new line and sizable investments under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project and the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project. The Kalyan–Murbad 28 km new line has been sanctioned at Rs 8.36 billion (bn) on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis with the Government of Maharashtra and has been declared a Special Railway Project for land acquisition; proposals covering 214 hectares are at various stages of acquisition. Budgetary outlay for projects falling fully or partly in Maharash..

Parliamentary Panel Flags Funding Gaps in Heavy Industries

"The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry (Rajya Sabha) presented its 332nd report on the Demands for Grants 2026-27 of the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). Figures converted from crore and lakh are expressed in million (mn). The Budget Estimates 2026-27 for the Ministry stand at Rs 79,399 mn against a projected requirement of Rs 94,843.2 mn, a shortfall of about 16 per cent, with revenue at Rs 79,370.8 mn and capital compressed to Rs 28.2 mn from Rs 5,020 mn.The committee flagged recurring BE-to-RE compression and declining revised estimate utilisation, and calle..