State-run Solar Energy Corporation, formed primarily for executing the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), will be fully functional by June.
“The broad mandate of the company will be to help the ministry to implement JNNSM. It will be fully functional in another two months,” Director Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Ashvini Kumar said at the Fourth Asia Solar Energy Forum here.
Under the JNNSM launched in 2010, the government intends to commission 20,000 MW in grid-connected solar power by 2022. In the first phase, solar power generation capacity of around 1,100 MW will be created by 2013, which will be further increased to 10,000 MW by 2017 in the second phase of the programme.
At present the recruitment process for the company is underway and will be completed soon, Kumar said, adding that it has an approved equity of Rs 2,000 crore.
SECI would execute turnkey projects, disburse subsidies under the JNNSM and set up grids in energy deficient areas for access.
Kumar said the company, based in New Delhi, has started functioning as three board meetings have been already held. The corporation will soon float a tender for setting up lantern charging centres in the naxal hit districts across nine states in the country, he added.
SECI was created for avoiding any shortage of funds for the mission and to encourage private players, so that India can achieve targeted solar power generation capacity under the mission.
In January of this year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appointed Anil Kakodkar as Chairman of SECI.
