Punjab Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today announced Punjab would encourage farmers to establish mini solar plants in their own land even as he announced that the State government was open to subsidizing installation of solar pumps for agricultural purposes from the funds being given to PSPCL for free power.Presiding over the first ever state Solar Summit organized here, the Deputy chief minister also announced that the State would target establishment of solar generation capacity of 2,000 mw. He also congratulated New and Renewable Energy minister Bikram Singh Majithia and his entire team for the phenomenal solar energy capacity addition in Punjab which has increased from 9 mw in 2012 to 541 mw this year and brought in an investment of Rs 4,000 crore into the State.Badal said the decision to allot projects between 1 to 2.5 mw capacity to farmers to generate a total of 500 mw would turn farmers into entrepreneurs. He said 6,000 acres of land had already been registered with PEDA with a large number of farmers expressing their interest to establish their own mini solar plants.
Floating a new idea to the large number of solar entrepreneurs gathered at the summit from India and abroad, the Deputy CM said the State was open to the idea of subsidizing installation of solar pumps in the State. We can divert money being given to PSPCL as subsidy for free power for agricultural operations for installation of these pumps. He said the State would try to encourage the maximum solar pumps out of the 1.20 lakh pumps which are to be released to farmers soon. “This will reduce the burden on thermal power and also reduce the free power subsidy quotient in the long run”, he added.Badal also called for an Invest India set up on the pattern of Invest Punjab office. “We have come up with the idea of one person, one telephone number and one address for all investors so that there is complete ease of doing business in Punjab”. He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to replicate this at the centre also. He said that after establishing ‘Invest Punjab’, the state had processed 174 proposals in an average time span of 38 days. “I have asked Invest Punjab CEO Anirudh Tewari to reduce this period to a maximum of 30 days”, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia, New & Renewable Energy Minister said it was an honour for Punjab that the State which had been at the forefront of the green revolution, had now taken the lead in establishing a green power revolution in the country. He said it was to the credit of Punjab that it had succeeded in its Go Solar mission despite constraints of land. “We do not have any wastelands or deserts nor are we big States like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh”.Detailing Punjab’s solar journey, Mr Majithia said this was achieved because Punjab came out with one of the best solar policies in the country by removing antiquated laws and conditions. “We also backed it up with a 25 year power purchase agreement with our electricity utility – the PSPCL. The fact that PSPCL has got a good credit rating of B+ also boosted investor confidence”, he said while thanking PSPCL Chairman K D Chaudhari for his role in Punjab’s solar story. He also highlighted that the vision of the Deputy CM had become known for ease of doing business and the resultant industrial climate which has been created helped the solar cause also.
Explaining the successes of Go Solar, the New and Renewable Energy minister also announced new initiatives to be taken up by his ministry. He said his ministry had taken a decision to allow establishment of mega projects of 50 mw each. He said due to problems in acquiring large tracts of land in Punjab, entrepreneurs could avail of this scheme even if they establish their project in separate tracts of land.He said one of the State’s biggest achievements was the creation of the world’s largest 7.5 mw single rooftop solar project at Radha Soami Satsang, Beas. He said it was heartening for him that this project was being enlarged further with a capacity addition of 12.5 mw. He said the State had allocated a further 53 mw for roof top projects.Describing wide network of irrigation canals another potential for solar expansion. Mr. Majithia said Punjab has more than 5000 kms canal lengths and it has decided to harness this potential by initially floating a tender for 20 mw capacity generation on canal tops.
Entrepreneurs bidding for this project will be eligible for a subsidy of Rs 3.5 crore per mw keeping in view the challenges in installation of such projects on canal tops.Mr. Majithia said that Punjab has been successful in attracting the best companies from India like Sun group, Punj Lloyd Infrastructure, Lanco Solar, L & T Infrastructure, Fedders Lloyd, Emami Power, Azure Power, Mahindra, Hero Future Energy, Sterlite, Acme Solar and Renew Power besides others. Similarly, our foreign investors include the biggest solar companies worldwide including Sky Power Canada, Light House UK and Solardirect, France, he added. Besides this, Rs 655 crore NRI investment has also come into the State as Punjab Go Solar has witnessed immense response from NRIs with Punjabi investors from United States, United Kingdom and even Slovakia.Earlier speaking on the occasion Mr. Tarun Kapur, Joint Secretary Union Ministry of Renewable Energy said it was commendable that while other States had facilitated solar energy generation with support from the centre, Punjab had achieved this distinction on its own. He also congratulated Punjab for the best performance.
On this occasion Mr. Atul Punj from Punj Lloyd, Mr. Gaurav Sood, MD, Solairdirect, Mr. S.S. Chadha from Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Mr. Raj Kumar Roy, CEO Lanco, Mr. Preet Sandhu, Azure Power, Mr. T. R. Kishore Nayar, Wellspun and Mr. K.S.Popli, MD IREDA also shared their experiences of investing in Punjab. The investors said due to creation of an excellent team and system, they never had to approach the political bosses in Punjab. They also appreciated the Renewable ministry for facilitation quick installation of solar plants without any hiccups.Mr K S Popli, MD IREDA said his organization would support solar projects and was coming up with a scheme for elevated solar projects in which the land could be used for agriculture. Mr. Anirudh Tewari, Secretary New and Renewable Energy, outlines the initiatives and future plans for RE sector in the state. Later on Mr. Badal along with Mr. Majithia honoured 47 solar developers for setting up their ventures in the state.Prominent amongst others present on the occasion Mr. Sarvesh Kaushal, Chief Secretary, Punjab, Mr. Upkar Singh Sandhu, Chairman PEDA, Mr. K.D. Chaudhary, Chairman Powercom, Mr. Harcharan Bains, Advisor to Chief Minister and Mr. Jangveer Singh, Media Advisor to Deputy CM.