 "Haryana to promote solar power plants on canals")
The Haryana government on Tuesday released its solar power policy, which aims to add 4,000 megawatt (Mw) of solar power by 2022. The policy unveiled on the last day of Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit aims to promote generation of green and clean power through a conducive atmosphere for the investors.
To give boost to the solar energy sector, incentives such as industrial status, electricity duty exemption, banking facility, cross-subsidy charges, etc have been provided in the policy. The government has also decided to purchase solar power over and above the solar renewable purchase obligation subject to a limit of 200 Mw.
Elaborating further the policy initiatives, Ankur Gupta, principal secretary, renewable energy department, Haryana, said in a statement that the policy encourages setting up of solar parks and installation of solar power plants on canals tops and banks.
The policy also aims to promote small investors by reserving 20 per cent of the target for the projects of capacity of 1-2 Mw. For these projects, a price preference of two per cent will be given to those who set up their plants within Haryana.
Sale of power to the Haryana government or to the third party is permitted without levying any charges under the policy. Due to land constraints, the installation of rooftop solar power project has been encouraged by allowing the sale of power to government at the last lowest discovered tariff without tendering. Rooftop solar power plants can be set up without any permission from the building plan sanctioning authority.
The transmission line for evacuation of solar power will also be provided by power utilities free of cost. The space between the installed solar panels could be used for commercial floriculture or horticulture related activities. Under the policy, the installation of agricultural solar powered pumpsets will be promoted to meet water or irrigation energy needs. The surplus power generation from the solar pumpsets might be bought by the Haryana Power Purchase Centre at average power purchase cost rate of the year.
SIDELIGHTS
A house for MR. Goyal
While a host of companies made investment commitments for Haryana, the high cost of real estate can be a dampener for investors. Suggesting cheaper ways of building houses, Union Minister of State for Power & Coal Piyush Goyal said real estate in Haryana was expensive. “I cannot afford a flat in any of the buildings Rajiv makes in Gurgaon,” he said, pointing at Rajiv Singh, vice-chairman, DLF.
Toilet water for buses
Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari suggested that Haryana follow his Nagpur model of bio-CNG made out of toilet water. Gadkari, who had invited social media ridicule for using urine for irrigating plants a few months back, said his organisation made a royalty of Rs 18 crore from the Maharashtra government by selling toilet water. “Some 100 buses in Nagpur run on bio-CNG provided by us,” he said.
Blessings not enough
The valedictory session at the two-day Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit saw Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar being part of the speaker panel. While both called each other bada bhai (big brother), Ramdev extolled Ravi Shankar and asked him to invest in Haryana through his Art Of Living. “Blessings will not do. You have to invest in Haryana,” he said, even though Ravi Shankar did not take cue.
To give boost to the solar energy sector, incentives such as industrial status, electricity duty exemption, banking facility, cross-subsidy charges, etc have been provided in the policy. The government has also decided to purchase solar power over and above the solar renewable purchase obligation subject to a limit of 200 Mw.
Read more from our special coverage on "SOLAR POWER"
Elaborating further the policy initiatives, Ankur Gupta, principal secretary, renewable energy department, Haryana, said in a statement that the policy encourages setting up of solar parks and installation of solar power plants on canals tops and banks.
The policy also aims to promote small investors by reserving 20 per cent of the target for the projects of capacity of 1-2 Mw. For these projects, a price preference of two per cent will be given to those who set up their plants within Haryana.
Sale of power to the Haryana government or to the third party is permitted without levying any charges under the policy. Due to land constraints, the installation of rooftop solar power project has been encouraged by allowing the sale of power to government at the last lowest discovered tariff without tendering. Rooftop solar power plants can be set up without any permission from the building plan sanctioning authority.
The transmission line for evacuation of solar power will also be provided by power utilities free of cost. The space between the installed solar panels could be used for commercial floriculture or horticulture related activities. Under the policy, the installation of agricultural solar powered pumpsets will be promoted to meet water or irrigation energy needs. The surplus power generation from the solar pumpsets might be bought by the Haryana Power Purchase Centre at average power purchase cost rate of the year.
SIDELIGHTS
A house for MR. Goyal
While a host of companies made investment commitments for Haryana, the high cost of real estate can be a dampener for investors. Suggesting cheaper ways of building houses, Union Minister of State for Power & Coal Piyush Goyal said real estate in Haryana was expensive. “I cannot afford a flat in any of the buildings Rajiv makes in Gurgaon,” he said, pointing at Rajiv Singh, vice-chairman, DLF.
Toilet water for buses
Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari suggested that Haryana follow his Nagpur model of bio-CNG made out of toilet water. Gadkari, who had invited social media ridicule for using urine for irrigating plants a few months back, said his organisation made a royalty of Rs 18 crore from the Maharashtra government by selling toilet water. “Some 100 buses in Nagpur run on bio-CNG provided by us,” he said.
Blessings not enough
The valedictory session at the two-day Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit saw Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar being part of the speaker panel. While both called each other bada bhai (big brother), Ramdev extolled Ravi Shankar and asked him to invest in Haryana through his Art Of Living. “Blessings will not do. You have to invest in Haryana,” he said, even though Ravi Shankar did not take cue.