Rs 1500 cr Central funding for alternative energy project
Dailies, nationwide, headlined the infamous blackout at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. Days after the incident, power failed at the Calcutta University Centenary Hall as well with the chief minister still on stage, putting his Z-plus security in a tizzy. No wonder, the state has decided to generate 115 MW through solar energy. It will set up an exclusive manufacturing hub for solar energy components at an expected investment of Rs 1500 crore.
“The state generates only 15 MW of electricity through solar energy. But in the next three years, it will churn out an additional 115 MW,” according to the MD of the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Ltd, Dr S P Gon Chowdhury. By 2013, India will generate 1300 MW of solar power. That’s the target for the first phase of the National Solar Mission of the Ministry of New Renewable Energy (MNRE). By 2013, West Bengal, Gujarat and Rajasthan together plan to generate about 30 per cent of the national target of 1300 MW of solar energy. Gujarat will pitch in with 130 MW and Rajasthan with 110 MW. The Centre will allocate the projects to the states on January 11. Chowdhury told TSI that the state will promote rooftop solar panels in a big way. So much so, that five MW of the state’s targeted output will come from rooftop solar power panels itself. The rest, he said, will be generated over large swathes of land statewide. He also said the generated power will fetch a tariff of between Rs 15 and Rs 17 per unit. He added that the NTPC’s newly created company, Bidyut Vapyar Nigam Ltd, will buy that power and push it into the national grid. In fact, it was acclaimed film director and former Rajya Sabha MP Mrinal Sen who is said to have shown the way. As an MP, he had donated a part of his MPLAD Fund for setting up of India’s first Energy Park. This has not only demonstrated ways of generating alternative and green energy but also shown alternatives like pump storage or even producing energy through paddle power.
Speaking to TSI, Sen said, “Being inspired by then power minister Sankar Sen’s initiative, I first donated some amount of money for setting up a solar power plant at a remote village of Birbhum district. That charged me and I donated the entire amount in three installments to the minister and Chowdhury for that Energy Park." He added, “MPs should allocate their MPLAD funds for such projects instead of misusing them." West Bengal plans to set up a dedicated hub at Andal in Burdwan district to manufacture components for solar energy units. Spread over 100 acres, it is likely to attract an investment of Rs 1000 crore by 2013. “Four companies are already generating power under this project,” Gon Chowdhury told TSI.
Dailies, nationwide, headlined the infamous blackout at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. Days after the incident, power failed at the Calcutta University Centenary Hall as well with the chief minister still on stage, putting his Z-plus security in a tizzy. No wonder, the state has decided to generate 115 MW through solar energy. It will set up an exclusive manufacturing hub for solar energy components at an expected investment of Rs 1500 crore.
“The state generates only 15 MW of electricity through solar energy. But in the next three years, it will churn out an additional 115 MW,” according to the MD of the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Ltd, Dr S P Gon Chowdhury. By 2013, India will generate 1300 MW of solar power. That’s the target for the first phase of the National Solar Mission of the Ministry of New Renewable Energy (MNRE). By 2013, West Bengal, Gujarat and Rajasthan together plan to generate about 30 per cent of the national target of 1300 MW of solar energy. Gujarat will pitch in with 130 MW and Rajasthan with 110 MW. The Centre will allocate the projects to the states on January 11. Chowdhury told TSI that the state will promote rooftop solar panels in a big way. So much so, that five MW of the state’s targeted output will come from rooftop solar power panels itself. The rest, he said, will be generated over large swathes of land statewide. He also said the generated power will fetch a tariff of between Rs 15 and Rs 17 per unit. He added that the NTPC’s newly created company, Bidyut Vapyar Nigam Ltd, will buy that power and push it into the national grid. In fact, it was acclaimed film director and former Rajya Sabha MP Mrinal Sen who is said to have shown the way. As an MP, he had donated a part of his MPLAD Fund for setting up of India’s first Energy Park. This has not only demonstrated ways of generating alternative and green energy but also shown alternatives like pump storage or even producing energy through paddle power.
Speaking to TSI, Sen said, “Being inspired by then power minister Sankar Sen’s initiative, I first donated some amount of money for setting up a solar power plant at a remote village of Birbhum district. That charged me and I donated the entire amount in three installments to the minister and Chowdhury for that Energy Park." He added, “MPs should allocate their MPLAD funds for such projects instead of misusing them." West Bengal plans to set up a dedicated hub at Andal in Burdwan district to manufacture components for solar energy units. Spread over 100 acres, it is likely to attract an investment of Rs 1000 crore by 2013. “Four companies are already generating power under this project,” Gon Chowdhury told TSI.
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