ULTRA MEGA RENEWABLE ENERGY POWER PARKS (NEW PROJECTS- Through JVC)

 MNRE has allotted THDCIL to develop UMREPPs through SPV in the state of Uttar Pradesh.  Formation of JV Company with equity participation of THDCIL and UPNEDA in the ratio of 74:26.  Total capacity of UMREPPs to be developed is around 2000 MW.  The JVC will get Central Financial Assistance @ Rs. 20 Lakhs per MW or 30% of the project cost, whichever is lower, for development of internal infrastructure including cost of transmission to the CTU/STU point.  The Authorized Share Capital of the JVC shall be Rs. 50 crore initially.  To start the activities of JVC, the initial Paid-up Share Capital of the JVC shall be Rs. 10 crores.  The Proposal for formation of JV Company has been approved by UP cabinet on 16.06.2020.  MoU between THDCIL and UPNEDA for formation of JV has been signed on 06.08.2020.  JVC between THDCIL and UPNEDA has been registered on 12.09.2020.

600 MW UMREPP in Lalitpur The 600 MW UMREPP at Lalitpur is planned to be established in Talbehat Tehsil, district Lalitpur in UP. The Work is in advanced stage in spite of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Revenue Maps of all the identified land have been obtained and necessary marking of Govt. land and Private Lease rent land is in progress. EoI/Consent of the farmers/land Owners has been obtained/is in progress. DM, Lalitpur vide letter dated 06.08.2020 has intimated the Land Proposal of 3019 acres to Director, UPNEDA Lucknow with Lease rent applicable for the land, as per follows:

Private Land Sl no Name of Village Total land

1 Pawa 685.26 2 Sarkhari 152.33 3 Sahpur 14.32 4 Vermabihar 19.16 5 Piprai 89.12 6 Gebragundera 317.02 Total land 1277.21 Govt Land 1 Pawa 650.34 2 Sarkhari 307.24 3 Vermabihar 264.41 4 Sahpur 19.30 5 Piprai 52.28 6 Gebragundera 229.26 7 Karsrakla 62.60 8 Jharar 157.18 Total land 1742.61 Total land Govt and Pvt 3019.82 (EoI/Consent of Farmers obtained)

 DM Lalitpur has finalized the lease rent of Rs. 20000/acre/year with an escalation rate of 5% after every 3 years; payable for the procurement of private land.  Further, DM Lalitpur has requested that the sitting up of Ultra Mega Solar Park/ UMREPP in district Lalitpur UP may be given Priority due to Lalitpur being the most backward region of Bundelkhand region which necessarily needs development.  Director, UPNEDA vide his letter dated 11-08-2020 has requested DM, Lalitpur to transfer Gram Sabha land in favour of Department of Additional Sources of Energy, Government of Uttar Pradesh and to provide a closer map indicating the contiguous land along with approach roads.  IIT Roorkee has been assigned the work of carrying out the Topographical survey of the Lalitpur UMREPP. The field work of topographical survey has been completed and input data furnished to NTPC, the DPR consultant. The topographical report has since been submitted by IIT Roorkee.  NTPC has been assigned the job of providing consultancy service for DPR Preparation of the Lalitpur UMREPP.  NTPC has also conducted the site visit from 11.01.2021 to 15.01.2021. The data is being studied. Draft DPR Report for UMREPP, Lalitpur is in advanced stage and shall be submitted by NTPC Ltd shortly.  Geotechnical investigation has been awarded to M/s CENGRS Geotechnical Pvt. Ltdwith date of start as 01.01.2021 with 45 days completion period.  The field work of Geo-Technical Investigation at Lalitpur site is in advanced stage. The Draft Geo-Technical Report for UMREPP, Lalitpur shall be submitted shortly.  In-principle approval has been accorded by MNRE to TUSCO Ltd (JV of THDCIL and UPNEDA) on 13.10.2020 for setting up of two Solar Parks of 600MW each in Lalitpur and Jhansi districts of Uttar Pradesh.

Initially in Lalitpur, 1914.47 acre (1308 farmers) Private land and 1722.91 acre Govt/Gram Sabha land (total 3637.38 acre) has been identified for development of 600 MW UMREPP. Now 1822 acre Private land and 976 acre Govt/Gram Sabha land (total 2798 acre) has been identified in Lalitpur for development of 600 MW UMREPP. Out of 1822 acre Private land, consent letters from farmers for about 1315 acre land (72.17 %) have been obtained and consent letters for balance 507 acre land is yet to be obtained. Out of 1722 acre Govt land identified earlier, about 976 acre is found suitable/feasible by NTPC. All efforts are being made to resolve the issue of consent of balance farmers on priority by taking help of UPNEDA and concerned District Administration.

DPR of Lalitpur Solar Park has been submitted to both SECI and MNRE on 19.03.2021.SECI has raised some observations on the DPR, the reply of which is under preparation and shall be submitted to SECI/MNRE shortly.

SECI/MNRE raised some observations on the DPR and the same have been replied by TUSCO Ltd. All the replies have been accepted by SECI except 3 Nos remaining to be complied with viz confirmation on water boreholes, Grid connectivity and Principal Secretary committee meetingfor finalizing the financial model is to be finalized and submitted to SECI/MNRE. Due to Covid-19 pandemic the DPR finalization by both SECI and NTPC have also got hampered.

Earlier, there was a provision of construction of the 765 KV substation within the Park for Power Evacuation under 4000 MW GEC-II. However, during the VC meeting held by MNRE on 07/01/2020,it was intimated that alternate arrangement may be planned for Power Evacuation since the timeline/CFA for the 4000 MW GEC-II is different. Accordingly, a physical meeting was held with Director, UPPTCL at his Lucknow office on 16.02.2021 byGM (Solar), TUSCO along with the GM (RE), NTPC (DPR consultant)for exploring alternate arrangements for power evacuation. The proposal based on the discussions held in the meeting has been sent on 19.02.2021 to UPPTCL,UPNEDA and MNRE for Power Evacuation from the Solar Parks. Reply is awaited.

600 MW UMREPP in Jhansi The 600 MW UMREPP in Jhansi is planned to be established in Tehsil Garotha district Jhansi in U.P. The Work is in advanced stage of Progress in spite of the Covid 19 Pandemic. All the Revenue Maps of the Land have been obtained. Both the Govt Land & Pvt Land is being marked on the Revenue/ Sajra Maps after due consent of the Land Owners/ Farmers. EoI/Consent letter from Farmers/Land Owners has been obtained/is in Progress. The DM, Jhansi has forwarded the Land Proposal to Director UPNEDA on 27.07.2020 for establishing a 600 MW UMREPP in Garotha Tehsil, district Jhansi, UP as per following: Sl. No. Village Pvt Land Govt Land Total land (in Acres) 1 Kharora 202.78 5.22 208 2 Sujanpura 1139.18 46.78 1185.96 3 Jalalpora 1368.51 247.67 1616.18 4 Jaswanpora 404.32 13.12 417.45 5 Pura 296.11 32.86 328.97 Total 3410.90 345.65 3756.56 acres  Earlier, the lease rent for Private Land has been finalized by DM, Jhansi at Rs 17500 per acre per year without escalation. However, the farmers are demanding Rs 20,000 per acre per year lease rent along with escalation as per the case for Lalitpur.  Now, the lease rent for Pvt Land has been finalized by DM, Jhansi vide Letter dtd 03.02.2021 at Rs 20,000 per acre per year with an escalation rate of 5% after every 3 years.  Director, UPNEDA vide his letter dated 11-08-2020 has requested DM, Jhansi to transfer Gram Sabha land in favor of Department of Additional Sources of Energy, Government of Uttar Pradesh and to provide a closer map indicating the contiguous land along with approach roads.  IIT Roorkee has been assigned the work of carrying out the Topographical survey of the Jhansi UMREPP. The field work of topographical survey has been completed and input data furnished to NTPC, the DPR consultant. The topographical report has been submitted by IIT Roorkee.  NTPC has been assigned the job of providing consultancy service for DPR Preparation of the Jhansi UMREPP.  NTPC has submitted the draft layout and BOQ. NTPC has also conducted the site visit from 11.01.2021 to 15.01.2021.Draft DPR Report for UMREPP, Jhansi has been prepared and submitted by NTPC Ltdon 01.02.2021. The same is being studied by THDCIL for comments, if any.  In-principle approval has been accorded by MNRE to TUSCO Ltd (JV of THDCIL and UPNEDA) on 13.10.2020 for setting up of two Solar Parks of 600MW each in Lalitpur and Jhansi districts of Uttar Pradesh.  The work of Geotechnical Investigation for both the solar parks has been awarded to M/s Cengrs Geotechnical Pvt. Ltd with date of start as 01.01.2021 and completion time of 45 days.  All field work of Geo-Technical Investigation at Jhansi site has been completed. Draft Geo- Technical Report for UMREPP, Jhansi has been prepared and submitted by M/s Cengrs Geotechnical Pvt. Ltd on 24.02.2021.

As far the status of land in UMREPP, Jhansi is concerned; the total land identified is about 2851 acres, out of which about 242 acres is the govt land. Out of 2609 acre Pvt. Land consent letters for about 2404 acre (92.22%) have been obtained and for balance 205 acre is yet to be received. All efforts are being made to resolve the matter related to consent of balance farmers with the help of district administration.

DPR of Jhansi Solar Park has been submitted to both SECI and MNRE on 12.03.2021.SECI has raised some observations on the DPRs, the reply of which is under preparation and shall be submitted to SECI/MNRE shortly..

Earlier, there was a provision of construction of the 765 KV substation within the Park for Power Evacuation under 4000 MW GEC-II. However, during the VC meeting held by MNRE on 07/01/2020, it was intimated that alternate arrangement may be planned for Power Evacuation since the timeline/CFA for the 4000 MW GEC-II is different. Accordingly, a physical meeting was held with Director, UPPTCL at his Lucknow office on 16.02.2021 by GM (Solar), TUSCO along with the GM (RE), NTPC (DPR consultant) for exploring alternate arrangements for power evacuation. The proposal based on the discussions held in the meeting has been sent on 19.02.2021 to UPPTCL, UPNEDA and MNRE for Power Evacuation from the Solar Parks. Reply is awaited.

Land in Chitrakoot district of UP:  Committee has been constituted by DM (Chitrakoot), under the chairmanship of ADM (Chitrakoot) and other members as SDM (Mau), Assistant Inspector General Registration (Chitrakoot), DGM (Solar, TUSCO Ltd.) and Project Officer (UPNEDA) for lease rent and other works related to possession of Land for UMREPP, Chitrakoot. The 1st meeting of the committee was held on 01.02.2021.A meeting with the farmers of village Gahur & Manka Chatani has also been conducted along with SDM (Mau), Tehsildar, and PO, UPNEDA. DGM (Solar) informed that 70% consents of farmers are expected to be received by 31st March 2021.  The Transit camp at Tehsil, Mau has also been opened on 19/02/2021 and Sh. Harsh Bansal, Sr. Engineer has been deputed in the transit camp. The possession of office in Tehsil has also been taken and the work of renovation will be taken up immediately.  At present, land of 4 villages namely Gahur, Katiya Dandi, Manka Chatani and Khargdaha in Mau Tehsil of Chitrakoot, total 3005 acre (Private land- 2175 acre and Govt land- 830 acre) has been identified. About 26 EoIs have been signed. Land of one or two more villages is also planned to be identified to make the total land around 4000 acre to accommodate 800 MW in district Chitrakoot.

 A meeting with the farmers on 09/04/2021 along with Tehsildar and Patwari has been conducted at Gahur village for getting the EoI. The farmers have some reservation with respect to the Lease Rent for their land. Farmers are demanding more lease rent what we have proposed to them. Further discussion with the farmers for lease rent is under process and shall be finalized shortly.

 For installation of Solar Power Park at Mau, Tehisil, District Chitrakoot, a note along with all documents of identified land signed by SDM, Mau and ADM, Chitrakoot was submitted to DM, Chitrakoot on 10.04.2021.

 DM has raised some queries and returned the file. The reply is being prepared and will be submitted to DM office after getting it signed from SDM & ADM.

2. RAJASTHAN:  During review meeting chaired by Hon’ble minister for State (I/C) Power, New & Renewable Energy, GoI held on 18.11.2019, it was gathered that Govt of Rajasthan is in advance stage of finalization of the land policy for UMREPPs and about 1.25 lakh hectares of Govt land has been identified in the state. THDCIL expressed its interest to take up 1500 MW of UMREPP in Rajasthan. Secretary (MNRE) agreed to allot 1500 MW of Solar Park development in Rajasthan.  THDCIL vide letter dated 20.11.2019 requested Principal Secretary (Energy), Govt of Rajasthan to allocate a land parcel of around 7500 acres for the development of UMREPPs. THDCIL further requested the Principal Secretary to nominate an organization of Govt of Rajasthan for formation of SPV/JV Company with THDCIL.  RRECL, GOR vide their letter dated 17.01.2020 asked THDCIL to submit the BOD Resolution for setting up 1500 MW UMREPP in Rajasthan.  THDCIL has submitted the requisite BOD Resolution of the corporation to RRECL and Principal Secretary, GOR on 20/01/2020 for allocation of 1500 MW UMREPP in Rajasthan to THDCIL under the Ultra Mega Solar Power Scheme of Govt of India and signing of the necessary MOU with RRECL. The allocation of land is awaited from GOR.  MNRE in their recent meeting held on 29.12.2020, have directed THDCIL to explore the possibilities for development of Solar parks in Private land in Rajasthan.  Govt. of Rajasthan / RREC during various meetings have informed that land allocation for development of 1500 MW UMREPP in Rajasthan, as per the request of THDCIL, shall be considered after allocation of the land to SECI and NTPC. The same is awaited.