Majithia asks bankers to finance solar projects

Punjab New and Renewable Energy Minister Bikram Singh Majithia today called upon financial institutions and banks to provide easy credit to solar power developers in the state.
Presiding over a meeting with leading financial institutions and banks Including Power Finance Corporation, L&T Infra Finance, IDBI, ADB, NABARD, Bank of India, Tata Power Solar, Majithia informed that Punjab has taken major initiatives in launching innovative programmes in the new and renewable energy sector with the purpose to enhance clean and green power generation capacity in the state.
He pointed out that the state was actively promoting and facilitating the setting up of ground based, rooftop based, canal top based, reservoir based solar PV power generation systems.

The minister revealed that the state's present NRSE power generation capacity was 811 MW and it was planned to take this capacity to 5,400 MW by 2022.
He called upon bankers to actively participate in state's initiative in renewable energy which has an estimated investment potential of Rs 33,000 crore and out of which Rs 23,000 crore was for finance requirement for setting up of NRSE projects.
Majithia emphasised on providing an exclusive financial product for supporting the rooftop projects under net metering, saying the future for the country lies in every household establishment institutions generate its own clean and green energy.

This will also help in providing power during peak hours for industrial growth of the country and specifically of the state, he said.
Majithia said Punjab has a huge potential in biomass sector and farm based solar projects for which financial institutions should come forward in supporting first generation .
Anirudh Tewari, Secretary, New & Renewable Energy, Punjab explained about the huge potential of 1,000 MW on the canal top and reservoir in the state.