Power and Irrigation Minister Rana Gurjeet Singh today announced that Punjab Government would launch a pilot project at Nathu Chahal feeder of Kapurthala district to convert every farmer from power consumer to power producer.This project will enable farmers not only to use solar power to run their tubewells but they will also sell this power during idle period.Nathu Chahal Feeder with 100 percent of segregation of agriculture feeder has 63 transformers connected with 178 pumps having pumping capacity of 1899 Horse Power (HP) and average Pump load of 10.66 HP. The total units consumed at feeder level from August 2016 to October 2017 were 23.76 Lakh Units and the total subsidy paid per year at the cost of Rs 6 per unit was 142.56 Lakh.Announcing this pilot project here while addressing the function organized to launch a massive awareness campaign for promotion of UJALA programme, Rana Gurjeet Singh said that Punjab Government under the leadership of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has been committed to boost the growth rate of the state by opting innovative ideas.Power Minister who himself has expertise in power generation, said that this pilot project would be used to study the feasibility of this project so that it can be successfully implemented in the entire state during next 5 years.Highlighting the significance of this project, Rana Gurjeet Singh said that this project will not only provide an additional source of income to every 'son of soil' but government would also save Rs 7000 crores it used to pay on power subsidy.“Farmer's tubewell motor will be replaced with power saving five star motor powered with a solar power unit under this project.
They will use solar power to run tubewell and sell this power during the idle period. This project will further help in reducing over exploitation of underground water as it will encourage the farmers to sell maximum power by making optimum use of their tubewells”, he added. Interacting with media while flagging off the EESL's comprehensive promotional mobile vans, Rana Gurjeet Singh said that the inauguration of UJALA programme in various districts of Punjab has been immensely benefitting the people and to upscale the adoption of energy efficient technologies, EESL along with Government of Punjab has devised a mechanism to further the message of energy efficiency. He said that these 16 vans designed as an innovative publicity mechanism would travel across the state to spread the message of adoption of advanced energy efficient appliances like LED bulbs, LED tube lights and ceiling fans. He also lauded the role of Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi in launching this scheme in the country to effectively reduce the power consumption.Earlier addressing the audience Mr. Balbir Singh Sidhu, MLA, Mr. Satish Chandra, Additional Chief Secretary Power and Mr. Nitin Bhatt, Regional Manager (Punjab), EESL described the Cheap and pollution free power, power saving devices and electric vehicles as the keys to rapid growth besides controlling inflation. Mr. A. Venu Prasad, CMD, PSPCL, Rishav Jain, Senior Deputy Mayor and Harkesh Chand Sharma, Political Advisor of MLA Balbir Singh were also present on this occasion.