Minister for Power D.K. Shivakumar has said that it has been decided to tap green energy, particularly solar energy, to the hilt to overcome the shortage of power in the State in view of the protests against setting up thermal power plants in the coastal belt and south Karnataka.
He was in Chittapur taluk at Chittapur town in Kalaburagi district to inaugurate works worth Rs. 184.88 crore on Monday.
Mr. Shivakumar said that the resistance from environmentalists and the people from coastal Karnataka and south Karnataka districts against the establishment of thermal power plants and the limited source of energy from hydel projects had made the government to turn its attention towards solar energy.
He said that a mega solar park was being set up on a 12,000-acre plot in the drought prone Pavagada taluk. Prime Minister Narendra Modi would lay the foundation stone for it in February. Mr. Shivakumar said that the land had been taken from farmers on a long-term lease for Rs. 21,000 per acre per year and it was not being acquired forcibly.
He said that the government had also initiated a programme to support farmers who go for solar power production on their unproductive land and sell the power to the electricity supply companies at a cost of Rs. 8.40 a unit.
“The response to this proposal from farmers was overwhelming. We have received 21,000 applications,” Mr. Shivakumar said. As per an estimate, farmers had offered to produce solar power on more than 1 lakh acres of land.
Mr. Shivakumar said that the State government had also proposed to encourage residents in rural areas to take up power production on their own from renewable sources. To begin with, the project would be implemented in 60 taluks where the government would support solar power generation and link them to power grids. Mr. Shivakumar said four taluks of Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency had been included in the scheme.
He said that the State government had also initiated steps to increase the power production in the State by 4,000 MW in the coming days.
The Minister said that the State government proposes to save at least 1,000 MW of power by making the people to shift to the use of the LED bulbs.
The government proposes to supply 10 LED bulbs to every household to replace the existing bulbs and tubes.
