Rajasthan Cabinet Approves Joint Ventures in Energy Sector

Jaipur, Aug 3 (PTI) The Rajasthan Cabinet on Saturday approved a proposal for the setting up of four joint venture companies in the energy sector, which will work on projects related to renewable and thermal power generation and transmission.

The state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma also approved the development of metro rail projects in the state.

Apart from setting up joint ventures for renewable and thermal power projects and power transmission projects, the Cabinet also cleared the formation of an infrastructure investment trust, according to an official statement.

Deputy Chief Minister Premchand Bairwa, Industry and Commerce Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel informed about the decisions, the statement said.

Bairwa said that as per the Metro Rail Policy 2017, the proposal for the formation of a joint venture company between the central government and the state was approved. This joint venture will be for the development, operation and implementation of the current and future metro rail projects in Rajasthan.

The joint venture will be able to get financial assistance (in the form of share capital and loan) in the metro project cost from the Centre. Also, technical and administrative support will be available for the metro projects.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patel said that the government is making continuous efforts to make the state self-reliant in the field of energy.

In compliance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the state government and various central public sector companies enterprises on March 10, 2024, the proposals for the formation of joint venture companies with central public sector units were approved in the Cabinet meeting today, Patel said.

The share of state government companies in these joint ventures will be 26 per cent and that of central government undertakings 74 per cent.

Industry and Commerce Minister Rathore said that two separate joint ventures will be set up between Coal India Limited and RVUNL. One of these will be a thermal project and the other a renewable energy project.

The minister said that a joint venture between NTPC Green Energy and RVUNL will be formed to set up a renewable energy projects, including solar/wind/ hybrid energy of 25,000 MW. Through this, an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore will be made in the state.

Patel said that in the vote on account for the year 2024-25, the state government had announced bringing an Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) in the transmission corporation in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Union energy ministry. In compliance with this, Rajasthan Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited will form 'InvIT' and it will be registered with SEBI.

The proposal to authorize RVPN to monetize its operational transmission assets through 'InvIT' has also been approved by the Cabinet.