Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat handed over the allotment letters to 208 entrepreneurs of the state for 148.85 MW solar power projects worth Rs 600 crore on Friday. He said that other such projects of 52 MW capacity, worth Rs 200 crore will also be given to local developers.
State that such efforts are important for economic development in the mountainous regions, the CM said that the solar power project is a boon for barren farmland. The economic development of mountainous regions was the basis of the Statehood movement. The achievement of this aim is being facilitated with locals being involved in the development of solar power. Rawat said that solar energy is environment-friendly. These projects will bring an average annual income of Rs 66.5 lakh to each entrepreneur while providing employment to about 850 people.
During the investors summit held last year, there was considerable enthusiasm among the gathering for solar power projects. One month before this event, five cabinet meets were held to amend five policies and make policies conducive to 10 types of industrial enterprises. The results of these developments are now visible. The State has so far received investments of more than Rs 16,000 crore. Rawat further said that by development of alternate energy, the state’s energy requirements will be met effectively. The State currently has to purchase electricity worth Rs 1,000 crore. As part of efforts to tackle this, work has been started to facilitate power generation from Pirul (dry pine needles). Projects have been allotted to 21 developers for this purpose. The CM also appreciated the considerable participation of women in execution of solar power projects. Stating that economic empowerment of educated women is good for society and State, he said that efforts are being made to ensure participation of women in all sectors.
Power secretary Radhika Jha said that the State Government had amended the solar power policy to reserve setting up of solar power plants of five MW capacity for the native residents in the mountainous regions. Including traditional and innovative power generation in the category of industry, all facilities available under the MSME policy 2015 have been made available for such projects. The solar power plants will be established by the developers with their own financial resources which will entail an investment of about Rs 600 crore in total. The allotted plants vary in capacity from 100 KW to 5,000 KW, with a combined capacity of 148.85 MW.
The projects allotted include 23 in Almora, one in Bageshwar, two in Champawat, 10 in Chamoli, 14 in Dehradun, 31 in Nainital, 45 in Pauri, one in Pithoragarh, 61 in Tehri and 20 in Uttarkashi. These plants are to be set up by June 2020.