NHPC Inks Pact With BEL To Set Up Gigawatt Scale Vertically Integrated Solar Manufacturing Unit

State-run NHPC Limited has partnered with Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for setting up a Gigawatt Scale solar manufacturing unit in India.

"A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between NHPC Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) today i.e. 23.08.2022 for setting up of Giga Watt Scale Vertically Integrated Solar Manufacturing Unit," the company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday (23 August).

The MoU was signed by NHPC director (project) Biswajit Basu and Vinay Kumar Katyal, director (Bangalore complex), BEL.

Earlier on 18 August, NHPC signed an MoU with Investment Board Nepal (IBN) for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) and development of two hydropower projects namely West Seti (750 MW) and Seti River 6 project (450 MW) in Nepal.

The MoU was signed by NHPC CMD Abhay Kumar Singh and IBN CEO Sushil Bhatta in the presence of Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

“We assure you that to complete these projects on time and in a cost-effective manner, we shall use every bit of expertise gained while constructing and operating 22 hydropower projects in close to five decades of our existence. We will also be investing over Rs 18,000 crore to develop these projects," NHPC CMD Singh was quoted in a Livemint report as saying during the MoU signing ceremony.

Singh also said that NHPC will expedite the preparation of DPR of the twin projects and establish the techno-commercial viability of these projects within the set timeframe.