New land act may impact cost of renewable energy projects:Govt

The new Land Acquisition Act may impact the total cost of renewable energy projects, Rajya Sabha was told today.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal said the cost of land in renewable energy projects such as wind farms and solar farms/power plants is of the order of 3 to 5 per cent of the total project cost.
The minister also said that the government has taken various initiatives including setting up of solar parks on the banks of canals, ultra mega solar power projects, wind power projects for which the states are encouraged to use land including wastelands depending on availability and resources.

To another question, Goyal said that a total of over 53.22 billion units have been produced during 2013-14 from non-conventional sources of energy in the country which includes rural areas.
"The major contributors are 31.26 billion units from wind, 3.35 billion units from solar, 12.32 billion units from biomass and bagasse cogeneration and 6.06 billion units from small hydro power," he added.