Chief Minister Siddaramaiah inaugurated the first phase of Pavagada Solar Park at Thirumani in Pavagada taluk of Tumakuru district on Thursday.
Addressing a large gathering, Mr. Siddaramaiah termed the solar park as the “eighth wonder of the world.” He said that “we are thankful to all those farmers who have leased out their land to the government for the project.”
In the first phase, the solar park will produce 600 MW. A total of 2,300 farmers of Pavagada have leased out 13,000 acres of land at Rs.21,000 per acre per annum. This will help to boost the economic activities in the most backward taluk. Before the solar park was established, the land rates were around Rs. 25,000 per acre but now they have risen to Rs. 4-5 lakh.
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Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar said that Karnataka will become self-reliant in the production of power and there will be no need to depend on other States. Pavagada Solar Park will be completed by December 2018 and will generate 2000 MW of power, he added.
District-in-charge Minister T.B. Jayachandra, MP Chandrappa, MLA Thimmarayappa, former Minister Venkataramanappa and others were present.