Many States coming forward to set up Green Corridor, says Power Minister
By TIOL News Services
NEW DELHI, AUG 23, 2014 : MR Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (I/C) for Power, Coal & New & Renewable Energy, has assured the stakeholders of solar energy sector that the policies of the Government are going to stay so that investors can plan accordingly. Speaking at the interactive session with solar power developers & manufacturers and other stakeholders here in the capital yesterday, the Minister said that Government is open to provide all support which is required to develop a robust ecosystem which is efficient & sustainable to provide a fillip to the renewable energy sector.
Pointing out that the Government is committed to strengthen the domestic manufacturing in solar sector, Mr. Piyush Goyal urged all stakeholders to work with renewed mission to align with the Prime Minister’s vision of providing electricity to all households. He urged the stakeholders to work in partnership to make the solar mission a success. Minister assured the manufacturers that whatever capacities are available in the domestic cell and modules in the country, adequate market would be made available so that they can not only run their factories to full capacity but they can also expand manufacturing capacity. He said that they should become competitive so that they can also export for which Government would provide the necessary support.
Mr. Goyal said that while large projects are being planned for feeding power into the grid, it is also proposed to set up small solar based systems to provide energy in decentralized manner to far flung villages and remote areas. He said Government realizes that the domestic manufacturers need support in order to sustain. NTPC is therefore coming up with a tender for setting up of 1000 MW of solar power projects in EPC mode by using cells and modules made in India. He said that the large PSUs would provide the necessary financial strength and confidence for the developers by procuring power and then selling to the DISCOMS. He also talked about companies generating conventional power coming in a big way in solar development and generating at least the percentage of their energy through renewables.
Mr. Piyush Goyal said that more states are coming forward showing interest in setting up a Green Corridor and the Government has suggested taking land on long term lease so that the land owner will also benefit on a sustainable basis. He also disclosed that Ministries of Agriculture and MNRE are jointly framing a comprehensive Scheme proposing therein solar water pumps coupled with drip irrigation and water reservoir.
He said that several States have come forward to identify land for setting up of large solar capacities and Government of India is working on a new scheme to set up solar parks and ultra mega solar power projects as announced by the Hon’ble Finance Minister in the budget speech. He said that solar pumping along with drip irrigation and water harvesting would be taken up in a big way in the country. Rooftop solar is a priority of the Government and correctly policies would be put in place for supporting this sector.
He said that Government is very much concerned about the large number of households who do not have access to modern sources of energy and, therefore, adequate attention would be paid to providing power to the left out households by deploying renewables in a big way. Renewable power is the future of the country and would be supported fully so that India can add capacities in this sector at par with the leading countries in the world and become a leader.
During the interaction, several stakeholders gave their suggestions for boosting solar power production in the country in a cost efficient manner. The interactive session was attended by over 250 stakeholders in the solar sector, Mr. P.K Sinha, Secretary Ministry of Power, Mr. U.Tripathi, Secretary MNRE, Dr Arup Roy Choudhury, Chairman, NTPC and several officers of the Ministries of Power, Defence and MNRE.
