Farmers to generate solar energy for government procurement

NEW DELHI: In a bid to encourage the future of utilisation of renewable energy sources in India, RK Singh, Minister of New and Renewable Energy, is planning to introduce a new scheme which would allow farmers to set up 2 MW of solar panels to produce power which would then be bought by the government. The scheme is set for launch in the coming 15-20 days. The scheme would enable farmers to earn up to Rs 1 lakh per year per acre.

The minister introduced the scheme while replying to a question raised during the Question hour of Lok Sabha. He highlighted that farmers not having enough capital for the purpose would have the option to allow developers to set up such a farm on their land. Despite himself being an MP from Bihar, the minister said he had written several letters to the state government seeking proposals for setting up of solar parks, but hasn’t received any response from their end till now.

“Lot of land is there in Bihar to set up these parks… There is a power deficit in Bihar and they need power,” he said. Singh was sure that the initiative would allow the government to achieve the targeted installation of 175 GW of renewable power projects by 2022.