MNRE approved 33 solar parks in 21 states

Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the Ministries of Power and New & Renewable Energy held its meeting in Tirupati , Andhra Pradesh  and reviewed progress of implementation of solar park scheme and also steps taken by the NTPC to reduce emissions and increase efficiency. The meeting was chaired byPiyush Goyal , Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal & New & Renewable Energy and was attended by members of the Lok Sabha Bharat Singh, Om Prakash Yadav, Sushil Kishore Singh, Jayadev Galla, and Member of the Rajya Sabha  Bashistha Narain Singh . Goyal welcomed the Members and informed them NDA Government has initiated world's largest Renewable Energy programme by increasing 5 folds its targets from exiting 35000 MW to 175GW capacity by 2022. Goyal also informed the Members that the installed capacity of solar power in India crossed the milestone of 5,000 MW in January this year and would achieve target of 18,000 MW by end of next year. To achieve above stated objective, Upendra Tripathy, Secretary informed the Members that the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has initiated several projects like Scheme for Development of Solar Parks. It is envisaged to achieve 20GW through ultra-mega solar parks. Ashvini Kumar , MD , Solar Energy Corporation of India ( SECI) gave detailed presentation highlighting salient features of the Scheme and physical and financial status of solar park scheme. Giving details , he said that as against 25 solar parks planned , the Ministry has approved 33 solar parks in 21 states with aggregate capacity of 19,900 MW. SECI has been made implementing agency and out of Rs 374 crore sanctioned , it has released Rs 54.93 crore to respective States development agencies. Depending upon the progress of works, solar parks have been categorised into “A”, B & C . In his presentation, Gurdeep Singh , CMD , NTPC explained to the Members about various steps taken by the NTPC to reduce emissions in air and water and also to increase efficiency of plants. During discussion, all members appreciated the efforts taken by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy and NTPC. Members gave several suggestions for roof top solar, smart grids & load levelling plan. In his response, Shri Piyush Goyal thanked all members for their valuable ideas given during discussion. Beside Tripathy , PK Pujari , Secretary Ministry of Power , CMD s of NTPC, NHPC, DVC and Directors of NTPC and senior officers of the Ministry of Power and New & Renewable Energy also attended the meeting.