Govt offers 50% funding capped at Rs 2 crore to replace fossil fuels with solar heat in industry

New Delhi: The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has invited proposals to promote concentrating solar thermal technology for industrial process heating, offering financial support to cut fossil fuel use in applications ranging from food processing and textiles to chemicals and metals. "The ministry encourages research and technology development proposals and provides up to 50% financial support to industry, start-ups, private institutes and entrepreneurs," the call for proposals said.

The government will provide up to 50% of the project cost, and the assistance will be capped at ₹2 crore per project, which may be given in the form of viability gap funding. The last date to submit the proposals is October 7.

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Solar thermal technology uses solar radiation to generate heat, which can then be used directly for applications such as water heating, steam generation and industrial process heating.

When combined with thermal energy storage, the heat can also be used beyond sunlight hours.

The call invites proposals from start-ups, private institutes and entrepreneurs under its Renewable Energy Research and Technology Development Programme.

The programme will focus on commercially viable and scalable solar thermal systems integrated with thermal energy storage and existing industrial processe.