Hyderabad: Solar power producer Acme Cleantech Solutions Ltd on Wednesday said it would invest Rs.660 crore to develop 80 MW solar power projects in Telangana, a month after it won another bid to develop 160 MW solar projects in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. Acme won a bid to develop 80 MW of solar projects floated by the Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Ltd (TSPDCTL), taking its total solar power portfolio to 502.5 MW. “In our mission towards meeting energy needs of the country through green energy, we are proud to partner the state and offer our full support to achieve the dream to bring power to every house by 2019,” Manoj Kumar Upadhyay, founder and chairman, said in a statement. Acme will sign a power purchase agreement with the two distribution companies of Telangana for a 25-year period. The project will be commissioned within 10 months of signing the agreement, the company said. The project would come as a breather to K. Chandrashekhar Rao-led Telangana government that is grappling with a power crisis in the state, which led to a standoff with Andhra Pradesh over power generation at Srisailam hydroelectric project. The power crisis has seen as many as 250 farmers commit suicide across Telangana, which supplies power to as many as 3 million irrigation pump sets, making the sector heavily reliant on electricity. Chief minister Rao went as far as to request farmers to not cultivate paddy in the upcoming crop season as it consumes more electricity. The Telangana government, which is also under pressure from industry bodies for the poor power situation, is tapping all sources to meet the energy demand in the state. Telangana recently inked an agreement with neighbouring Chhattisgarh to purchase 1,000 MW but that is likely to come after three years. Acme Group, which has projects in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, recently secured approval for a $100 million loan from Asian Development Ban. It aims to generate 1000 MW by 2017
Source:livemint
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