Tuesday, November 04, 2014: Here comes some good news for 250 villages in Lambi, Punjab as the largest solar power plant in North India, with capacity of 34MW, has started producing power successfully. The Rs 3,500 million project was set up by Azure Power and it was officially inaugurated by deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.
The inaugural event, hosted by the company, also saw the presence of non-conventional and renewable energy minister Bikram Singh Majithia, Azure chairman HS Wadhwa, CEO Inderpreet Wadhwa and co-founder Preet Sandhu. The deputy CM claimed in his address at the event that Punjab will be able to generate 250MW power from solar projects by 2014 end and by 2015-end, the state is expected to generate around 2,000MW. Punjab is growing as one of the biggest solar powered states in India, Majithia claims.
There is also an approval to set up a 1,000MW solar park in the state and land identification for that project is already done. CEO Wadhwa said Azure Power’s operation in Punjab started in 2009 with a 2MW project and now they have launched a 34MW solar plant. Co-founder Sandhu said the company doesn’t only aim to add clean energy to the sector but also generate employment opportunities for local people. As Badal added, plans are also there to install solar panels on the rooftops of residential complexes.
