2,000 mw solar power park in Karnataka soon

A 2,000 MW solar power park would be set up at Pavagada in Karnataka's Tumakuru district to meet the state's energy needs, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

"The mega solar project will be built under public-private partnership (PPP) with investment from central and state governments in about 10,000 acres of parched land," he told reporters after a day-long review meeting here.

The central government will provide a subsidy of Rs.20 lakh per MW of power generated from the solar park in Pavagada, 180 km from here.

Touted to be one of the largest renewable energy projects in the country, the power generated from the park will be evacuated and transmitted by the southern grid whose capacity is being expanded.

"We are investing a lot to increase grid capacity to transmit electricity across the state from the solar park and other power projects," Goel said.

Karnataka Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar said the state government had identified barren lands at Pavagada for setting up the solar park. Pavagada was selected for the project owing to its strategic location with high sunlight exposure, backwardness of the area and less demand for land.

"With a view to providing 100 percent electricity to every household and every village in the state, all forms of energy will be tapped through projects under PPP and private producers," said Goyal.

About 800,000 households and 36 villages in remote and backward areas of the state's northern region do not have power supply till date.

The central government will also grant Rs.800 crore to the state for setting up dedicated feeder lines for supplying uninterrupted power to the farm sector, including irrigation pumps and tube-wells under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana.

"To step-up power generation through thermal sources, the central government is allotting a dedicated coal block in Maharashtra and West Bengal for exclusive use of Karnataka power plants," said Goyal.