“Gujarat govt has not paid a single penny to Equilibrium Energy”

Ahmedabad, 23 November 2013

Following is the statement circulated by state BJP media team.

There have been speculating stories doing the rounds in the media about alleged favours given by Gujarat Government to the firm owned by the kith and kin of the woman alleged to have been provided protection and security by the Gujarat Police. The following details clearly indicate that Government of Gujarat had no role in awarding of the said projects to the said firm:

i.) Equilibrium Energy Company has not been made any payment by the Government of Gujarat for the Smart Grid Project in the Secretariat.

ii.) This Smart Grid Project was implemented in the Secretariat by the Torrent Power Ltd. which is a private distribution company responsible for power distribution in Gandhinagar. This Smart Grid Project was being implemented by the Torrent Power Ltd. It was only a Pilot Project and this was completed by 2012.

iii.)Centre for Incubation, Innovation, Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM, Ahmedabad along with Government of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had given incubation support to this company including Seed Funding Support of Rs. 25 lakh under MNRE Programme of GoI.

iv.) About 6 months back, Government of India’s Solar Energy Centre under the R&D Centre Project has given a project of Rs. 61 lakh for 2½ years for Solar Energy Centre premises.

v.) Government of Gujarat has not paid a single penny to the said company for the pilot project.

vi.) It is an initiative supported by Government of India’s Ministry of New & Renewable Energy.

_____________________________________

In addition to this statement, following are two links:

With the objective of demonstrating the smart use of electricity by integrating mix of renewable power to the grid, support for energy savings, evaluation and showcasing the actual benefits, a new research and development project on “Establishment of Model Smart Micro Grid at SEC” has recently been taken up for implementation with the financial support of the Ministry. The project would be implemented by Ecolibrium Energy Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad in collaboration with SEC.

http://mnre.gov.in/file-manager/annual-report/2011-2012/EN/Chapter%208/chapter_8.htm

Ecolibrium raised $1.5 million in the first round of funding from Infuse Capital and World Bank arm International Finance Corporation (IFC). Of this, $500,000 was from Infuse Capital, a collaboration between IIM-A, BP Ventures, the ministry of new and renewable energy and the Technology Development Board (TDB).