January 29 (Renewables Now) - State-owned coal miner NLC India Ltd (BOM:513683) has signed a pact with the government of Tamil Nadu for the construction of 1 GW of solar parks in the southernmost Indian state.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was inked last week between NLC India and Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO), which acted on behalf of the local government. Under its terms, the coal mining and power generation group will get infrastructure support for developing the specific projects.

In addition to the photovoltaic (PV) capacity, the MoU calls for the deployment of 2.64 GW of lignite-based thermal power capacity in Tamil Nadu. Those projects, including the PV schemes, will have a combined value of INR 238 billion (USD 3.34bn/EUR 2.93bn).

At present, NLC India owns 492 MW of renewable energy assets in Tamil Nadu and also has some 909 MW of solar projects in the pipeline. Earlier this month, the company brought online 130 MW of solar parks in the state.

(INR 10 = USD 0.141/EUR 0.123)