TS shelves mega solar plan

Difficulty in acquiring land played spoilsport

The Telangana government has put off its proposed 1,000-megawatt renewable energy project in Mahbubnagar district due to technical reasons and field-level difficulties.

The government had taken up the project on a priority basis and a few companies had come forward to set up solar power projects with capacities ranging from 2 MW to 200 MW under TS-iPASS.

The government proposed to acquire 5,800 acres in Gattu mandal of Mahbubnagar district to allow solar power companies to set up power plants on the plug-and-play model.

Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (TSIIC), which was the nodal agency for the project, began land acquisition process in 2014. The project, however, has come to naught in less than three years.

According to TSIIC managing director E.V. Narasimha Reddy, the corporation has almost dropped the project.

“Acquiring land for the project has been a big problem as there was no provision in land acquisition law to allow the government acquire land for such projects. Variation in Power Purchasing Agreements (PPA) was also one of the reasons for dropping the project,” he explained.

The government held talks with NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd and other companies for investing in the solar park.

As per the Detailed Project Report (DPR), TSIIC had to acquire required land from the government agencies and pattadars in the village for the phase-I of the project for generating 500 MW.

TSIIC had earlier said that the project would be implemented on an open access basis, which would allow heavy users of power to buy power from the open market instead of the state utilities.

“Acquiring land for the project has been a big problem as there was no provision in land acquisition law to allow the government acquire land for such projects.” — E.V. NARASIMHA REDDY Managing director, TSIIC