Raje may axe Gehlot’s solar power project
Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje has overturned the decision of her predecessor Ashok Gehlot to set up a photovoltaic ( PV) solar power project in the Sambhar salt lake in the state.
Mr Gehlot had also given in principle agreement to, what had been dubbed as the world largest PV solar power project, but Ms Raje is reported to have pointed out that being the largest saline wetland lake in Asia, it must be developed as a tourism site.
On coming to power, Ms Raje shot off a letter to former minister of heavy industries Praful Patel expressing her reservations on the power project. Sources close to her point out that she has sanctioned a sum of ` 30 crore to develop the lake as a tourism hotspot as the Sambhar salt late, spread over 24,000 ha, has been declared a protected wetland site under the Ramsar Convention.
During the last session of Parliament, former minister of renewable energy Farooq Abdullah had told the House that his ministry was planning to ask the World Bank for $ 500 million funding package to kick- start the first phase of this mega solar power project which was expected to generate 6,000 million units of electricity annually for 25 years.
The only spanner in the wheel is that the lake had been leased to the PSU Sambhar Salts Ltd for salt mining and its officials point out that with salt mining is taking place in one portion of the lake, the rest could have been given for the PV project. Mr Raje dug her heels and said National Environmental Engineering Research Institute has been asked to prepare a management plan for the restoration and conservation of the wetland.