Govt set to make five UP cities as solar cities

LUCKNOW: With a view to promoting green energy in UP, the Yogi government is all set to make five religious cities of the state as solar cities by 2024.

In the first phase, the government’s target is to turn Ayodhya, Mathura, Varanasi, Prayagraj and Gorakhpur into model cities under its clean and green energy project. The UP power ministry has set a target of installing 669 mega- watt solar power rooftop plants on houses in these cities.

For this project, the Centre will give a subsidy of Rs 859 crore and the state government of Rs 473 crore. UP energy minister Srikant Sharma said the government will make people aware of its solar power project in the five cities and motivate them to install solar power plants on their houses. Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Department (UPNEDA) will launch an awareness campaign in these places to associate people with the project. The UPNEDA will also make people aware how solar power plants will help reduce their electricity bills.

It will also apprise people of the subsidy being offered by the Centre and the state governments for installing rooftop solar power plants.

Uttar Pradesh has a solar energy potential of 22,300 mw. The Yogi government intends to harness this source to achieve solar power generation target of 10,700 mw by 2022.

As part of its policy to promote solar power, the state government is now waiving land registration subsidy for those who are willing to set up solar power plants to generate electricity.

Electricity generated by these solar power plants is then transferred to the grid—an interconnected network for transferring electricity from producers to consumers.

This is part of the state government’s decision to promote private participation in generation of electricity through solar power. To meet the target of generating 10,700 mw of electricity through solar power, the state government has set a target of setting up 6000 solar power plants across the state.