Government plans to make hydro power purchase mandatory for discoms: Jyotiraditya Scindia

NEW DELHI: The government plans to promote hydro power projects by making it mandatory for distribution utilities to buy a percentage of their electricity requirement from hydel plants, power minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday.

The proposal is similar to the existing renewable purchase obligations where a state has to either buy a portion of its electricity from green energy sources or buy certificates from generators of such electricity

"We are looking at a provision to create HPOs (Hydro Purchase Obligations) like RPOs (Renewable Purchase Obligations)," Scindia said at a conference organised by industry body FICCI.

If implemented, the move will benefit hydro power companies like NHPC, SJVNL, Jaypee Group, GMR Energy and Reliance Energy.