A Rs. 20.16 lakh solar energy project, Surya, provided by the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant under its corporate social responsibility initiative, was commissioned at the SOS Children’s Village at Nerellavalasa colony in Bheemunipatnam on Saturday.
Commissioner of GVMC B. Ramanjaneyulu, while commissioning the project appreciated the VSP for providing the facility for the children and wanted the steel plant management to take up such programmes in rural areas.
Directors of VSP Umesh Chandra and Y.R. Reddy said VSP was giving thrust to education and health care through its CSR initiative. General Manager (CSR) R. Shankar, other senior officials and representatives of trade unions, participated.
The solar energy system consists of 20 street lights and 22 home lighting kits, each costing Rs.48,000. They will function for 15 to 20 years, most eco-friendly and greatly reduce the power bill burden to the SOS Village, which houses 168 children. The other advantages are minimum maintenance, negligible operating cost, specially designed for Indian operating conditions, easy to switch over to electric back up during absolute cloudy and foggy day.
