Minister for electricity, prohibition and excise Natham R. Viswanathan urged entrepreneurs here to participate at the Global Investors Meet to be held in Chennai on May 23 and 24 and said that the incentive package available to foreign investors will be available for local entrepreneurs too, depending on the investment in a project.
The Minister inaugurated technical seminars and released fair directory of Elektrotec 2015 and Renergy Coimbatore 2015 here on Saturday. He said that a Renergy 2015 event will be held as part of the Global Investors meet too. The investors’ meet looks at attracting Rs. 1 lakh crore investment from overseas and domestic entrepreneurs.
Several schemes are implemented by the government to encourage installation and use of solar energy in the State.
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Minister for Municipal Administration S.P. Velumani said the present Government has taken several measures to address the power shortage problem in the State. It has allocated funds for the development of Coimbatore. For instance, works are on for the Gandhipuram flyover and Rs. 83 crore has been given to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital to upgrade facilities. Works are on to develop an integrated bus terminal at Vellalore.
The State Government is implementing a number of schemes through different departments to popularise solar energy systems. Tamil Nadu is leading in wind energy generation and has a substantial number of rooftop installations.
Coimbatore Mayor P. Rajkumar said the corporation is taking efforts to install more LED and solar lamps.
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District Collector Archana Patnaik said that Coimbatore has a large number of rooftop solar energy systems that are connected to the grid. Village panchayats are going in for solar street lights and solar energy systems.
Chairman of the event M. Kandhaswami said the event has over 70 stalls that focused on solar energy systems, energy efficiency, industrial automation, energy conservation, and electrical safety gadgets.
An official of Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency told The Hindu that farmers received 80 per cent subsidy for solar pump sets. It has been given to 686 pump sets now. In the case of rooftop installations connected to the grid, work order has been accepted for 459 systems, and installations completed for 394. The target is to have 10,000 such systems in the State. In Tamil Nadu, solar energy systems by institutions and industries in Coimbatore district for 520MW have received government subsidy and 86 domestic rooftop installations are completed.
The Hindu is the media partner for Elektrotec 2015 and Renergy Coimbatore 2015, which is on at the Codissia Trade Fair Complex.