Punj Lloyd Infrastructure felicitated at Solar Power Summit:            

                                                     by Punjab Government and PEDA

BIKRAM SINGH MAJITHIA                                                                                       In a Solar Summit organised in Chandigarh by the Punjab Government and Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), Punj Lloyd Infrastructure Ltd, a subsidiary of Punj Lloyd was felicitated yesterday for commissioning of its 20 MW solar power plant in District Mansa, Punjab and for committing further investment in another 20 MW solar project bringing its total portfolio in Punjab to 40MW.

Among the attendees were Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister, Sardar Sukhbir Singh Badal, State Renewable Energy Minister - Bikram Singh Majithia, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, (MNRE), Government of India, Punjab Government Principal Secretary – Power, Chief Secretary Punjab, CMD of Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), CEO PEDA, among several chieftains of the industry including Mr Atul Punj.

Punj Lloyd was one of the developers who had commissioned the project one month ahead of schedule. In his address to the audience, Mr Punj attributed this success to the “healthy execution environment provided by various Punjab Government agencies” and particularly lauded the proactive approach of the Minister and officials of PEDA.

Mr Punj also highlighted that in the execution of this project, Punj Lloyd was one of the pioneers in adopting an innovative concept of taking semi-fertile land on lease from local farmers with annually escalating rentals, providing a stable and growing source of income for the local farmers without losing the ownership of land. While on one side, this guaranteed an escalation of 5% every year to the farmers, this put the less fertile land available in the State to the best alternative utilisation, resulting in a win-win situation for the local farmers, developers and the State Government to achieve their respective goals.

The Minister appreciated the development efforts by Punj Lloyd, who along with others, is playing an important role in bringing a solar revolution in Punjab.

The Minister also congratulated State Renewable Energy Minister - Bikram Singh Majithia and his team for "the phenomenal addition to Punjab's capacity to generate solar energy", announcing that the capacity had increased from 9 MW in 2012 to 541 MW this year, and an investment of Rs 4,000 crore had come into this sector in the State.

Sun shines in Punjab as solar energy has started empowering farmers here                     According to PTI, the Renewable Energy minister of Punjab, Bikram Singh Majithia, after inaugurating a 4 MW solar power plant in Bathinda, said that farmers had already evinced keen interest in this scheme and applications had been received to set up projects in 2,000 acres of land. Disclosing the state’s plans to develop renewable energy resources, Majithia said he had set a target of increasing the percentage of renewable energy in the total energy generated in the state to 15 per cent.

“We have set targets to develop 5400 MW total non- conventional power capacity by the year 2022 with the generation of 300 MW from biomass, 680 MW from co-generation power, 4200 MW from solar, 200 MW from hydel and 20 MW by converting waste to energy,” he said.

The 4 MW solar power plant inaugurated recently was spread over 19.4 acres of land. Constructed with an investment of Rs 35 crore by an Israel based company, it would produce 14000 to 18000 units of power daily, an official spokesman said. This is the fourth such solar power plant in Bathinda district.

Giving details of initiatives taken by Punjab government to tap solar power, Majithia said thatin the first phase 250 MW solar power projects worth Rs 1700 crore were allocated, 24 Projects of 184 MW worth Rs 1300 crore were commissioned and 4 projects of 38 MW were under implementation. He said against latest tender of 250 MW Solar power Phase-II, bids for 389 MW were received and 24 Projects of 229 MW worth Rs 1600 crore were allocated.

He said that PEDA would soon come out with a Farmers Solar Power Generation scheme of 500 MW.

“The Punjab government is also set to introduce a land lease policy for farmers for setting up of renewable energy projects. The policy, which is approved by PEDA, would safeguard the interests of farmers and ensure they get more lease value for their land as compared to market rates with yearly increment of 6%”, Majithia said.

 Renewable Energy Minister Mr.Bikram Singh Majithia inaugurates two Solar Power Projects in Mansa...!

Mansa is shining under Sun as with 64 MW installed capacities of solar power; the district has emerged as the torch bearer on solar energy front in the state.

Besides this, the world renowned company Moserbaer has also taken 150 acres of land on lease here for setting up a 34 MW Solar power project.
In a simple but in an impressive function held here today, the Punjab New & Renewable Energy Minister Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia along with Mr. Balwinder Singh Bhunder, MP, inaugurated two solar power projects of 2.10 MW and 1 MW set up by M/s. Alianz Eco Power Limited and M/s Nextgen Solux Power Private Limited at the cost of Rs. 15.50 crore and Rs. 8.00 crore respectively.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Majithia said that the humble beginning started three years ago in renewable energy sector has now becomes a movement as the solar power generation has now touched 215 MW from just 9 MW with an investment of more than Rs. 1500 crore . 23 ground mounted solar projects of 229 MW capacity (Rs. 1600 Crore) and 4 solar roof top projects of 65 MW ( Rs. 300 crore) are under implementation.
Mr. Majithia pointed out that Mansa has emerged as number 1 district of the state on solar power front as four such projects having joint power generation capacity of 61 MW had been running successfully.
Mr. Majithia said that the path breaking initiatives of Punjab on RE front have not gone unnoticed as the Prime Minister has awarded Punjab as best performing state on RE front during REINVEST-2015 held in New Delhi and few days ago Renewable Energy Promotion Association (REPA) has awarded Punjab as the Best Bio-energy State of India with highest installed capacity of rural agro waste based – biomass energy conversion projects. Punjab has 62.5 MW capacities in biomass power generation.
Describing clean energy the need of hour, Mr. Majithia said that the state was taking the concept of clean and green living to every house by encouraging people to produce their own power through roof top projects and a unique Net Metering Policy 2014 has been notified. With concerted efforts of state government the IDBI bank has launched a new scheme "Surya Shakti” for financing such projects. Mr. Majithia said that it was high time for financial institutions to come forward with liberal credit policies required for RE projects so that our environment could be saved for our future generations.
Mr. Majithia said that under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minisiter Mr. Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal even the Mansa and Bathinda districts have been attracting huge investments which were considered backward areas few years ago. He said that keen interest of state farmers in solar power could be gauged from the fact that PEDA has recently got Expressions of Interest for 1200 MW against the initial estimates of 500 MW. He said that now two bids of 500 MW each for farmers and renowned companies are being floated and he was confident that these initiatives would change the future power scenario and solar power would become cheaper than thermal power. He said that the state farmers were now getting remunerative lease rates besides high rates even for non-fertile lands. He said that our government was also emphasizing on biomass energy with dual aim of enhancing the farmers’ income from agri-waste on one hand and saving the environment on the other thereby promoting cle
n and green energy in the state.
He also welcomed the NRIs for opting for solar power and informed that till date NRIs have invested Rs. 245 crore in five projects having joint power generation capacity of 45 MW. He said that number of other such projects by NRIs were under different stages of implementation.
Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Mr. Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Member Parliament, congratulated Mr. Majithia for bringing Mansa as the most happening district on solar power front in the country. He assured the Minister about full cooperation to the solar power developers. He also urged the farmers to come forward and opt for State government’s upcoming Farmers’ solar power projects policy to enhance their earnings on one hand and contribute in clean energy drive on the other.
Mr. Yashpreet Singh Brar (M/s Nextgen Solux Power) said that the positive approach of the Punjab Government & the support of the Punjab Energy Development Agency have boosted their confidence and he alongwith his partner NRI Kanwaljit Singh Mangat would soon invest more in this sector. Representing NRI Jaspal Deol ( M/s Alianz Eco Power) in the function, Mr. Surinder Singh Sandhu, Director also shared his experience of setting up this project and cooperation extended by state government in timely execution of the project.
Prominent amongst others who were present on the occasion included Mr. Prem Mittal, MLA, Mr. Jagdeep Singh Nakai, former CPS and Dr. Amarpal Singh, CEO, PEDA.

Punjab Solar Summit 2015

BIKRAM SINGH MAJITHIA 

Government of Punjab is hosting the Solar Power Summit-2015 in Chandigarh on July 23, 2015. The Solar Summit, initiated for the very first time by State Govt., aims to bring prospective entrepreneurs, investors and other stake holders on a common platform. With Punjab Government’s pro-active approach, the Solar Power Summit-2015 targets to make Solar power as a new revolution.

Provide easy credit    

              for solar power projects             

 Bikram Singh Majithia: CHANDIGARH: Punjab government today asked banks and financial institutions to provide easy credit to solar powerdevelopers in the state.

It is high time for financial institutions and banks to provide easy credit to solar power developers in the state, Punjab New and Renewable Energy Minister Bikram Singh Majithiasaid.The minister said, the state's present new and renewable power generation capacity is 811 MW and it is planned to take this capacity to 5,400 MW by 2022.

The state's initiatives in renewable energy have an estimated investment potential of Rs 33,000 crore out of which Rs 23,000 crore is required to be financed by banks, he added.

He informed that IDBI Bank has rolled out a new scheme called 'Surya Shakti' for financing solar power projects by individual households.

Describing net metering a revolutionary step in the direction of producing clean and green energy, Majithia said when each household generates its own solar energy, it not only contribute towards environmental protection but also lays down the foundation for a responsible society.

According to the newly launched 'Surya Shakti' scheme, individuals/joint individuals are eligible for loan up to 60 per cent of project cost subject to maximum of Rs 10 lakh per borrower.

The cost of 5 kWp solar plant ideal for a three bedroom house is about Rs 5 lakh.

Out of this, Rs 60,000 will be subsidy and bank will finance Rs 3 lakh, he said. The maximum repayment period will be seven years in equated monthly installments (EMIs).