On Tuesday, NHPC signed a preliminary agreement with Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) to build a high-capacity solar equipment manufacturing plant. “NHPC and BEL have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a gigawatt-scale vertically integrated solar manufacturing unit,” the BSE filing said.

The MoU was signed by NHPC Director (Projects) Biswajit Basu and BEL (Bangalore Complex) Director Vinay Kumar Katyal. State-owned hydropower giant NHPC has 7,071.2 MW of installed capacity from 24 power stations, including two joint venture projects.

It is building 11 projects with a total installed capacity of 7,539 MW. In 2021-22, the NHPC power station will achieve a power generation capacity of 24,855 MU (million units). Last fiscal, NHPC reported a net profit of Rs 3,538 crore on revenue of Rs 8,181 crore from electricity sales.