Following the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, India is looking to restructure hydropower projects across six rivers and numerous streams within the Indus River basin to enhance water diversion and storage for use in Northern India.Power Minister Manohar Lal stated that ongoing Indus River basin projects cannot be altered retrospectively.
Instead, he highlighted nuclear power and the storage of solar and wind energy as viable alternatives to thermal power for providing baseload electricity to the national grid.
With 15 GW of nuclear energy projects already approved, the minister noted that 3 GW of hydropower capacity has been installed, with an additional 3 GW of projects currently in the pipeline.He also emphasised that the attainment of Navratna status by NHPC and SJVN would further facilitate the harnessing of hydropower potential.Discussing cybersecurity measures, the minister revealed that India successfully blocked malicious traffic via firewalls to safeguard the national grid during Operation Sindoor.He stated that the only physical attack on a thermal power project occurred at a residential colony near the Uri border, though the impact was minimal.In line with its net-zero targets, India’s carbon market is progressing, with plans to establish a domestic carbon trading system by June 2026, akin to those in China and the EU.The minister further noted that the US is going back on its commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.Regarding energy storage, the minister confirmed that viability gap funding (VGF) is being explored for pumped storage hydropower (PSP) battery solutions.Additionally, a battery storage project with a capacity of 30 GWh is expected to open for tenders within the next three months.(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)
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