COMPANIES SETTING SOLAR POWER PROJECTS TO ADOPT VILLAGES TO INSTALL SOLAR STREETLIGHTS

Jaga Ram Tirath (Bathinda):The Malwa region has emerged as the solar hub of South East Asia with Punjab’s largest commissioned solar power project being inaugurated here today by Union Food Processing Minister Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal
Mrs Badal,while inaugurating the 32 mw plant set up by Welspun Solar Punjab Pvt Ltd in the presence of New and Renewable Energy minister Mr Bikram Singh Majithia, said Punjab was the first state in the country to work out a diversification scheme for farmers to adopt green energy ventures and develop them into green energy entrepreneurs. She said Punjab would target development at least 15 green energy entrepreneurs per block within the next five years ensuring 10 percent of the State’s energy requirement is fulfilled through green energy.
The Union minister also talked about the plight of the farmers of the Malwa region and said she would take up their issues, including those of msp, with the Prime Minister. While interacting with the media, Mrs Badal said Mr Parkash Singh Badal was the first Chief Minister of the country to announce such a huge compensation package (Rs 643 crore) for farmers whose cotton crop had been damaged due to whitefly attack. She said though the extent of loss in Punjab was less as compared to Haryana and Rajasthan, but Punjab had paid maximum compensation to its farmers,” She said Punjab had also increased the per acre compensation from Rs 3,000 to Rs 8,000. She further said that a high level team headed by ADGP level officer was investigating the issue of sale of spurious pesticides and that any person found guilty would not be spared.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Bikram Singh Majithia said the Punjab government was coming up with a new scheme under which farmers could themselves set up solar power projects on their own land in collaboration with corporates. He said that under this scheme a MoU would be signed for a period of 25 years and the farmers and corporates would have a 50:50 partnership. He said to boost this scheme, the Punjab government would even give subsidy and around 500MW capacity projects would be allocated to farmers.