September 16, 2026: Indian industry burns fossil fuel to make heat, and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) wants pilot projects that show solar can take some of that load. The ministry has issued a call for proposals seeking concentrating solar thermal (CST) installations built into working industrial processes. The ministry will meet up to half the capital cost of the projects it selects. Each award is capped at Rs 20 million, and the support may come as Viability Gap Funding (VGF).

The window is short. Submissions opened on September 8 and close on October 7, and proposals have to go through MNRE's research portal.

What the ministry is after is set out plainly in the call. "The objective is to accelerate the adoption of concentrating solar thermal (CST) technology for various heating applications in Indian Industry," it states, going on to describe the wider aim as accelerating "the adoption of Green Heat in Indian industry by promoting solar thermal technologies integrated with Thermal Energy Storage (TES), for clean, reliable, sustainable process heating applications and promoting indigenous technology development in efficient and cost-effective manner across the country."

(Source: PSU watch)