Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Hinduja Group closing in on acquisition in solar energy space

The Hinduja Group is in the final stage of sealing a deal to acquire a solar power company.

In an exclusive interaction with BusinessLine, Ashok Hinduja, Chairman of Hinduja Group of companies in India, said the group is bullish of green power potential in India and has already identified an asset for acquisition.

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Tirupur, Coimbatore textile cos turn to conserve air to save energy

Regulating compressed air, which is an essential input for all modern textile machines — from spinning to weaving — can help us conserve air, and consequently save energy.

And that is exactly what textile manufacturers in Coimbatore and Tirupur have started to do. After cutting trenches in the ground to collect rainwater, they have turned their focus to air, trying to conserve its flow from compressors in... Read more..

Less than 10 percent solar power tapped in Himachal Pradesh: CAG

Himachal Pradesh has been able to tap only about 10 percent of its solar power potential, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has said.

Against an estimated solar power potential of 33,000 MW, only 3.29 MW was installed till March 2015, the CAG report said.

The state-run Himachal Pradesh... Read more..

Groundwater situation in Telangana alarming

The Telangana State, where groundwater availability has always been a challenge, has not seen a worse situation in terms of water levels as early as March, during the past one decade. If Hyderabad is excluded, for which data is available only since 2005, the average groundwater level of the State in March has plummeted to a 17-year low this year.

Officials from the Telangana Groundwater Department describe... Read more..

India, Germany sign agreement to rejuvenate Ganga

India and Germany on Wednesday signed an agreement to adopt and replicate, wherever possible, the river basin management strategies of the European rivers Rhine and Danube to rejuvenate the river Ganga.

The project duration will be of three years (from 2016 to 2018) where the German contribution would be to the tune of Rs 22.5 crore. Though initial actions will be focussed on the stretch of the river in... Read more..

Aggressive solar power tariffs hinge on keeping generation costs under control: ICRA

ICRA believes some 5.7 GW of solar generation capacity will be added this year. The actual addition, however, would hinge on timeliness in awarding projects under state and central policies and subsequent signing of power purchase agreements.

It estimates, assuming a 7% annual energy demand growth, an additional 78 GW in solar energy capacity would be required over the seven-year period from FY2016 to FY2022... Read more..

Government tells thermal power plants to reduce water usage

Thermal power plants are water guzzlers, consuming an average of 96,000 litres of water for every megawatt of power, and the government wants to cut this down as it contemplates the possibility of excessive dry summers and dwindling water levels in rivers in coming years.

The ministry of environment has asked all proposed thermal power plants to use at least 30% less water than the existing ones, and told... Read more..

Only 24% of water left in India's 91 key reservoirs

With the mercury soaring across the country, the water storage availability at India's 91 major reservoirs has dipped to 37.92 billion cubic metres, which is just 24% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs.

The central water commission in its latest bulletin noted that the storage status of these reservoirs as on April 7 was less than the corresponding period last year.

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Fortum plans €200-400 million Indian solar allocation

Finland-based developer Fortum is focusing its solar strategy in India with a planned EUR200-400 million (US$229-457 million) injection of capital into PV projects, according to a stock exchange release.

In January, the firm won 70MW of solar capacity in Rajasthan at a price of INR4.34/kWh (US$0.064), which was a drop of more than 6% from the previous Indian record of INR4.63/kWh.

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Inox Wind bags two 70-MW wind energy projects from Adani Green

Inox Wind Ltd today said it has bagged two wind energy projects totalling 70 MW from Adani Green Energy Ltd an arm of Adani Enterprises Ltd.

"Inox Wind inked two contracts for a cumulative capacity of 70 MW with Adani Green Energy Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Limited and part of the Adani Group," Inox Wind Ltd said in a BSE filing.

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Canada's SkyPower says seeking partners for India solar projects

Canadian solar company SkyPower is looking for partners for its India projects and will start building them in the fall of this year, its chief executive told Reuters on Tuesday, adding it was rapidly expanding its team and activities in seven states.

Kerry Adler denied a report in the business daily Economic Times that the company could exit India, saying SkyPower considers the country to be one of its core... Read more..

GM Drives Closed-Loop Manufacturing, Recycles Water Bottles for Car Parts

General Motors is turning its employees’ recycled water bottles into noise-reducing fabric insulation that covers the Chevrolet Equinox engine.

The bottles, collected from five of its Michigan facilities, are also being turned into air filtration components and insulation in coats for the homeless.

The... Read more..