PrashantNews
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday inaugurated the ‘Saur Kauthig”, Uttarakhand’s first solar fair in Dehradun, and emphasized the importance of producing the solar energy in the hill state by highlighting its economic and environmental benefits.
Experts say solar power is cheap, clean, modular and flexible energy source.
“Under the Uttarakhand Solar Policy 2023, we have set an ambitious target of installing 2500 MW solar plants by the year 2027. Out of this, 1400 MW capacity is to come from distributed solar sectors like residential and industries. We are ahead of this year’s target in installing rooftop solar panels under the PM Surya Ghar Yojana in the state. By December, we have installed about 10500 rooftop solar panels,” the Chief Minister said addressing the inaugural ceremony.
Apart from this, he also emphasized on moving towards Gross Environmental Product (GEP), he said.
The Energy Department of the Uttarakhand Government is running the solar energy campaign in collaboration with Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) and Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA). One of the main attractions of this program was the inauguration of a mobile solar van, which will travel around Dehradun and other cities and demonstrate the importance of rooftop solar systems.
The Solar Samridh Uttarakhand Abhiyan aims to bring rooftop solar into the mainstream by showcasing the convenience and savings it offers to homes and businesses. The campaign was launched at a two-day Saur Kauthig held at Rangers Ground, Dehradun. Cabinet Minister Prem Chandra Agarwal, MLA Doiwala Brij Bhushan Gairola, MLA Rajpur Khajan Das and MLA Cantt . Savita Kapoor also participated on this occasion. Renowned environmentalist Dr Anil Prakash Joshi also addressed the inaugural ceremony.
R Meenakshi Sundaram, Energy Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand, in his welcome address said, “There is abundant potential for rooftop solar in the hilly areas of Uttarakhand. We have given priority to distributed solar energy in the solar energy policy. For this, additional subsidies are also being given at the state level by the Centre and the processes have also been simplified. To reach this scheme to more people, Solar Samriddh Uttarakhand Abhiyan has also been started. We hope that with public cooperation, the state will be able to achieve its goal of clean energy.”
The vote of thanks was given by Additional Secretary Energy and Director UREDA Ranjana Rajguru in the program. Managing Director UPCL Anil Kumar Yadav, Managing Director UJVNL Sandeep Singhal, Managing Director Ptcul P C Dhyani, Chief Engineer Solar Cell Ashish Arora and Chief Project Officer UREDA Manoj Kumar along with various officers and employees of the three corporations and UREDA were present in the program.