By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 16 Dec: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami inaugurated the two-day ‘Saur Kauthig’, the first solar fair of Uttarakhand, at Rangers Ground here today. During the event, he also handed over cheques to the beneficiaries of the PM Suryaghar Yojana, Chief Minister Solar Self Employment Scheme, and Solar Water Heater Scheme. He also inaugurated the solar energy-based mural art at the UPCL headquarters and flagged off the solar van for public awareness. This Solar Van is intended to disseminate information related to solar energy among the people over the next hundred days. The CM also visited various stalls to learn about innovative experiments in the field of solar energy.
Addressing the Solar Kauthig, Dhami said the fair, organised under the Solar Samriddh Uttarakhand Abhiyan, is a unique initiative towards energy security, environmental protection, and sustainable development of the state. He said that the fair aims to raise awareness about adopting solar energy, showcasing information on all solar energy-related schemes, their benefits, and various types of solar energy products. He commented that by adopting solar energy, people would contribute to making Uttarakhand self-reliant in energy.
The CM also noted that fossil fuel sources are limited and harmful to the environment, whereas solar energy sources are unlimited and environmentally friendly. He observed that the use of solar energy is being encouraged across the country through various schemes and campaigns under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. The PM has set a target of generating 100 gigawatts of electricity through solar energy by 2030 and making the country carbon neutral by 2070.
The state government is continuously promoting the use of solar energy. A new solar energy policy has been implemented to establish maximum solar energy projects. Solar power plants are being installed on all government buildings in the state, with a 70 percent subsidy being jointly provided by the Central and State Governments for rooftop solar plants. Under the PM Suryaghar Yojana, a grant of over Rs 90 crore has been given to about 11,000 beneficiaries for establishing solar power plants. Subsidies of 30 to 50 percent are also being provided for installing solar water heater plants for domestic and non-domestic consumers. The Chief Minister Solar Swarozgar Yojana is providing self-employment opportunities to permanent residents of the state through the establishment of solar power plants. The new solar energy policy aims to establish solar plants with a capacity of 250 MW in residential areas and 2500 MW in total by 2027.
The Chief Minister announced that 365 vendors have been recognised for the residential sector to increase the number of solar vendors in the state. The government has simplified the net metering system and excluded solar systems up to 10 kW from technical assessment, making it easier for people to adopt solar energy. In the last seven months, more than 23 MW of solar energy capacity has been successfully installed in Uttarakhand. Dhami expressed hope that the Solar Kauthig event would further boost the development of the solar energy sector in the state and contribute to making India carbon neutral.
Cabinet Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal, MLAs Khajan Das, Brij Bhushan Gairola and Savita Kapoor, Vishwas Dawar, Padma Bhushan awardee Dr Anil Prakash Joshi, Secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, Additional Secretary Ranjana Rajguru, MD UPCL Anil Kumar, MD UJVNL Sandeep Singhal, and MD PTCUL PC Dhyani were also present.
