Saturday, June 07, 2014: To achieve its target, the government could revamp the structure of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission
In a bid to achieve the target of commissioning 20,000 Mw of solar power generation capacity ahead of 2022, the BJP-led NDA Government at the centre is planning to set up four solar power plants of 1,000 Mw each. The government plans on setting up these plants tentatively in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, in order to accelerate India’s solar energy programme substantially.
To achieve its target, the government could revamp the structure of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. At the same time it has also hinted towards a possible expansion of the Electricity Act 2003 to encourage greater utilisation of renewable energy. In this way, the government wants to club solar and conventional power so as to make renewable energy more affordable to its people.
Further, the government has surveyed several sites and cities across the country to assess the potential and viability of solar power here as a measure to tackle delays in larger projects as well as eliminating crucial roadblocks in case of ongoing capacity addition programme for solar power. Union Energy Minister, Piyush Goyal recently met with officers from the relevant departments and institutions to assess the progress of ongoing solar power projects. Goyal also directed the same to set and achieve greater targets in the next phases of India’s solar power mission.
