12 states to set up solar parks, ultra mega solar projects: Goyal

Twelve states have agreed to set up of solar power parks and ultra mega solar projects totalling 22,100 MW capacity, including a 7,500 MW park to be set up in Leh and Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir, Power Minister Piyush Goyal told parliament said Thursday.

"The ministry has sent scheme for development of solar parks to various states along with MoU to all the state governments against which 12 states have given consent for setting up of solar parks," Goyal, who is also minister for new and renewable energy, told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Besides Kashmir, the other states where such parks are being set up are Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

Goyal said the new and renewable energy ministry has started a scheme for setting up of 25 solar parks, each of 500 MW and above, to be developed in five years in various states.

He said land had been identified by Gujarat in Banaskantha district for a 750 MW project, in Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh for a 1,500 MW project and in Mehboob Nagar in Telangana for a 1,000 MW project.

Andhra Pradesh has earmarked Anantpur district for a 2500 MW project, while Karnataka has identified Bijapur for a 100 MW project and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh for a 600 MW project.

Land has also been identified in Punjab for a 2,000 MW project and in Bhandla and Jaisalmer by Rajasthan for a total of 3,700 MW project, the minister said.

In reply to another question, Goyal said as many as 299 proposals in Jammu and Kashmir and 296 in Odisha have been approved for electrification of villages and hamlets under Remote Villages Electrification (RVE) programme for which funds to the tune of Rs.20.09 crore and Rs.28.59 crore respectively have already been released.