Government of India, under the leadership of new Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is undertaking all necessary efforts to promote renewable energy programs. As a part of this initiative, the government is planning to install ultra- mega solar power projects in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Renewable Energy, announced in Lok Sabha that the government is planning renewable energy promotion by providing fiscal and financial incentives like capital and interest subsidy, concessional excise and customs duties to attract Indian and foreign investors.
The capacity of upcoming projects in above said states will depend upon the availability of the land. On an average, 1 MW of solar PV power project generates about 1.6 million units of electricity per annum, said the Minister.
Government has plans to set up solar parks in Jammu and Kashmir as well as West Bengal and is waiting for state government’s nod for acquiring land.
Investing on green energy corridor to transport solar power from one state to other is also under Ministry’s consideration.
The government also has plans to install one lakh solar pumps for irrigation and drinking water purposes in the country, informed the Minister.
Under Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, Rs147.88 crore has been sanctioned for installation of 19,449 solar pumps under ‘Off grid and Decentralized Solar Applications’ scheme. So far 11,626 pumps have been installed in 12 states of the country, till 31 March 2014.
The government plans to launch another scheme under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission to encourage installation of Solar Water Heaters.
Setting up of more Biogas plants in all the States and Union Territories of the country is another important initiative in the portfolio. However he said that the government has no proposal to set up any Bio-fuel plant.
He further added that over 4.75 million family type biogas plants and about 350 large plants for power generation based on cattle dung and other wastes are estimated to be generating over 51 lakh cubic meter biogas per day.
All the 12 projects for production of Bio-CNG from biogas set up in Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan under the program of this Ministry are operational with an estimated production of 17,200 kg/day.
In another initiative, over 2,600 solar lamps were installed in 148 residential schools of Kandhamal district, as part of government’s solar energy development program. Integrated Tribal Development Agencies (ITDA) of Phulbani and Baliguda had funded the project. Each lamp was costing about Rs2100.
For a backward region suffering from unscheduled power cut for long hours and low voltage problem, these solar lamps are of immense help, especially to hostel inmates in remote areas, said ITDA officials.
The ITDA, Baliguda, has chalked out a project to install solar pumps in schools for a water supply scheme. The proposal will be rolled out during the current year after obtaining approval from the government.