MNRE includes Punjab in Green                         Corridor  Mission

Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has agreed to include Punjab in the ambitious “Green Corridor Mission” project on the request of minister of new and renewable energy of Punjab...!

Bikram Singh Majithia

Punjab will now be in line to receive funds for further strengthening of its transmission and distribution infrastructure to ensure efficient evacuation of solar power to the central grid.Besides this, the Union Ministry has also announced a major roof top solar power pilot project to demonstrate as well as encourage people to set their own solar power roof top projects to successfully implement the net metering policy of the state.

        PUNJAB TO GENERATE 4,200 MW SOLAR                                     POWER BY 2022: 

                   BIKRAM SINGH MAJITHIA

New and renewable energy minister Bikram Singh Majithia on Tuesday said the Punjab government has set a target of generating more than 4,200 MW solar power in the state by 2022.

He said this on the sidelines of inaugurating a 4.2 megawatt (MW) solar power plant — the country’s first satellite-controlled single axis tracking east west tilt technology-based solar power plant — at Lalpur village in the district. It has been constructed by a Mumbai-based firm at Rs 35 crore.

The single axis tracking east west tilt technology follows the path of the sun during the day to generate 8 per cent more units of electricity as compared to solar power plants having traditional fixed-type structures.

Thanking Aditya Medisales, the firm engaged for completing the project, which is part of the Sun Pharma group, Majithia invited the company to invest more in the field of renewable energy production in the state, claiming that Punjab provided the best environment for investment in the renewable energy sector.

Majithia informed that more than 1500 applications had been received for solar roof top projects. “We are going to further promote the concept  of generation of clean and green energy,” he calimed.

Various companies had already invested more than Rs 1,300 crore in solar power projects while an investment of around Rs 1,700 crore was in the pipeline, he added.

Majithia informed that India’s largest rooftop plant of 7.50 MW at Radha Soami Satsang at Beas in Amritsar would be expanded to 31.5 MW making it world’s largest rooftop plant. 

Due to such initiatives, the Punjab government had been awarded by the Union ministry of new and renewable energy for being one of the best performing States as far as capacity addition was concerned, he added. He said PEDA had also been declared one of the best performing state nodal agencies under the energy conservation programme during 2012 and 2013 by the Union Ministry of Power.

Aditya Medisales executive director Vidya Sagar Tulluri, thanked the government for speedy clearance of the project. He said the company planned to invest more in the state in the coming times.

       PUNJAB SOLAR SUMMIT 2015 ; BIKRAM SINGH

  MAJITHIA ANNOUNCES STATE TO ALLOT MEGA SOLAR 

                        PROJECTS OF 50 MW EACH   

BIKRAM SINGH

MAJITIHIA 

Chandigarh, July 24– Punjab Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today announced Punjab would encourage farmers to establish mini solar plants in their own land even as he announced that the State government was open to subsidizing installation of solar pumps for agricultural purposes from the funds being given to PSPCL for free power.

Presiding over the first ever state Solar Summit organized here, the Deputy chief minister also announced that the State would target establishment of solar generation capacity of 2,000 mw. He also congratulated New and Renewable Energy minister Bikram Singh Majithia and his entire team for the phenomenal solar energy capacity addition in Punjab which has increased from 9 mw in 2012 to 541 mw this year and brought in an investment of Rs 4,000 crore into the State.

Mr Badal said the decision to allot projects between 1 to 2.5 mw capacity to farmers to generate a total of 500 mw would turn farmers into entrepreneurs. He said 6,000 acres of land had already been registered with PEDA with a large number of farmers expressing their interest to establish their own mini solar plants.

Floating a new idea to the large number of solar entrepreneurs gathered at the summit from India and abroad, the Deputy CM said the State was open to the idea of subsidizing installation of solar pumps in the State. We can divert money being given to PSPCL as subsidy for free power for agricultural operations for installation of these pumps. He said the State would try to encourage the maximum solar pumps out of the 1.20 lakh pumps which are to be released to farmers soon. “This will reduce the burden on thermal power and also reduce the free power subsidy quotient in the long run”, he added.

Mr Badal also called for an Invest India set up on the pattern of Invest Punjab office. “We have come up with the idea of one person, one telephone number and one address for all investors so that there is complete ease of doing business in Punjab”. He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to replicate this at the centre also. He said that after establishing ‘Invest Punjab’, the state had processed 174 proposals in an average time span of 38 days. “I have asked Invest Punjab CEO Anirudh Tewari to reduce this period to a maximum of 30 days”, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia, New & Renewable Energy Minister said it was an honour for Punjab that the State which had been at the forefront of the green revolution, had now taken the lead in establishing a green power revolution in the country. He said it was to the credit of Punjab that it had succeeded in its Go Solar mission despite constraints of land. “We do not have any wastelands or deserts nor are we big States like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh”.

Detailing Punjab’s solar journey, Mr Majithia said this was achieved because Punjab came out with one of the best solar policies in the country by removing antiquated laws and conditions. “We also backed it up with a 25 year power purchase agreement with our electricity utility – the PSPCL. The fact that PSPCL has got a good credit rating of B+ also boosted investor confidence”, he said while thanking PSPCL Chairman K D Chaudhari for his role in Punjab’s solar story. He also highlighted that the vision of the Deputy CM had become known for ease of doing business and the resultant industrial climate which has been created helped the solar cause also.

Explaining the successes of Go Solar, the New and Renewable Energy minister also announced new initiatives to be taken up by his ministry. He said his ministry had taken a decision to allow establishment of mega projects of 50 mw each. He said due to problems in acquiring large tracts of land in Punjab, entrepreneurs could avail of this scheme even if they establish their project in separate tracts of land.

He said one of the State’s biggest achievements was the creation of the world’s largest 7.5 mw single rooftop solar project at Radha Soami Satsang, Beas. He said it was heartening for him that this project was being enlarged further with a capacity addition of 12.5 mw. He said the State had allocated a further 53 mw for roof top projects.

Describing wide network of irrigation canals another potential for solar expansion. Mr. Majithia said Punjab has more than 5000 kms canal lengths and it has decided to harness this potential by initially floating a tender for 20 mw capacity generation on canal tops.

Entrepreneurs bidding for this project will be eligible for a subsidy of Rs 3.5 crore per mw keeping in view the challenges in installation of such projects on canal tops.

Mr. Majithia said that Punjab has been successful in attracting the best companies from India like Sun group, Punj Lloyd Infrastructure, Lanco Solar, L & T Infrastructure, Fedders Lloyd, Emami Power, Azure Power, Mahindra, Hero Future Energy, Sterlite, Acme Solar and Renew Power besides others. Similarly, our foreign investors include the biggest solar companies worldwide including Sky Power Canada, Light House UK and Solardirect, France, he added. Besides this, Rs 655 crore NRI investment has also come into the State as Punjab Go Solar has witnessed immense response from NRIs with Punjabi investors from United States, United Kingdom and even Slovakia.

Earlier speaking on the occasion Mr. Tarun Kapur, Joint Secretary Union Ministry of Renewable Energy said it was commendable that while other States had facilitated solar energy generation with support from the centre, Punjab had achieved this distinction on its own. He also congratulated Punjab for the best performance.

On this occasion Mr. Atul Punj from Punj Lloyd, Mr. Gaurav Sood, MD, Solairdirect, Mr. S.S. Chadha from Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Mr. Raj Kumar Roy, CEO Lanco, Mr. Preet Sandhu, Azure Power, Mr. T. R. Kishore Nayar, Wellspun and Mr. K.S.Popli, MD IREDA also shared their experiences of investing in Punjab. The investors said due to creation of an excellent team and system, they never had to approach the political bosses in Punjab. They also appreciated the Renewable ministry for facilitation quick installation of solar plants without any hiccups.

Mr K S Popli, MD IREDA said his organization would support solar projects and was coming up with a scheme for elevated solar projects in which the land could be used for agriculture. Mr. Anirudh Tewari, Secretary New and Renewable Energy, outlines the initiatives and future plans for RE sector in the state. Later on Mr. Badal along with Mr. Majithia honoured 47 solar developers for setting up their ventures in the state.

Prominent amongst others present on the occasion Mr. Sarvesh Kaushal, Chief Secretary, Punjab, Mr. Upkar Singh Sandhu, Chairman PEDA, Mr. K.D. Chaudhary, Chairman Powercom, Mr. Harcharan Bains, Advisor to Chief Minister and Mr. Jangveer Singh, Media Advisor to Deputy CM.

PUNJAB ALL SET FOR GENERATION 

OF

CLEAN & GREEN POWER

Bikram Singh Majithia

Chandigarh, June 28: Punjab is all set for setting up of 500 MW capacities Mega Solar PV Power Projects after big success in solar power in last three years. The bids have been invited through PEDA giving an opportunity to developers to bid from minimum 50 MW to maximum150 MW with Power Purchase Agreement for 25 years with the State power utility (PSPCL).

Disclosing this here today Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia, New & Renewable Energy Minister said that the developers will have an option to put up the allocated capacity at single location or maximum 10 locations with minimum capacity of 5MW. He said that to facilitate the developers, PEDA has carried out an exercise and identified 6000 acers of land belonging to Village Panchayats and Private land owners, who are willing to give their land on lease for these projects. The successful developers will have an option to tie up with these land owners at terms and conditions to be decided by them with the land owners.

Mr. Majithia said that it becomes imperative to set up Solar PV power projects to harness the abundant solar potential in the state where Sunshine is available more than 300 days in a year. He disclosed that the state has taken major strides in the Solar Power Generation capacity addition from 9MW in 2012 to 206MW in 2015 and it could become possible with active participation of the private solar power developers. In addition in Phase-II, 282MW capacity Solar Power Projects have been allocated and Power Purchase Agreements signed, which comprises of 229MW ground mount and 53MW Rooftop projects. These projects are scheduled for commissioning by March’2016, he added.

Mr. Majithia pointed out that the higher capacity addition in the Solar Power Generation sector has been possible only due to lot of facilitation and single point clearance being provided by PEDA and Punjab Bureau of Investment & Promotion. PSPCL provides a 25 years bankable power purchase agreement. Due to these concerted efforts, major companies like Punj Lloyd, Wellspun, Azure Power, Essel, Acme, Lanco, Luminous, and investors from USA, FRANCE, ISREAL and SLOVAKIA have invested more than Rs.1400 crore and set up Solar Power projects in the State.

Mr. Majithia said the State of Punjab provides one of the best infrastructures in the country providing good road connectivity up to the village level, 400KVA grid ring main system, more than 600 nos. 66KV sub-stations and each sub-station located within a 10KM radius, 132KV sub-station located within 30KM radius. Besides this, PSPCL is a profit making utility and has a B+ rating. The power from renewable energy projects is being evacuated to PSPCL / PSTCL sub-stations. The applicable incentives / benefits under the NRSE Policy-2012 shall be provided to the solar power project developers.

Punjab calls for solar power, joins hand with Germany to set up ‘Renewable Energy Equipment Hub...!                    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, Punjab’s New and Renewable Energy Minister, Bikram Singh Majithia informed that the state 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.

Punjab has been actively promoting and facilitating the setting up of ground based, rooftop based, canal top based, reservoir based solar PV power generation systems. 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.

Majithia 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. He 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.

Punjab has a huge potential in biomass sector and farm based solar projects for which financial institutions should come forward in supporting first generation entrepreneurs and citizens.

According to PTI, Punjab and Germany are all set to join hands for creating ‘Renewable Energy Equipment Hub’ in the state. Punjab has also sought help from Germany to harness the huge potential available in rooftop solar and biomass power. Indo German Energy Programme has proposed to facilitate linkage between Punjab and German Renewable energy sector.

A delegation of Indo German Energy Programme, led by its Director Winfried Damm, recently called on Majithia and apprised him about the efforts being put in facilitating technology transfer as well as investment by German companies in the Renewable Energy (RE) sector to India. Damm offered to facilitate linkage between Punjab and German renewable energy industry to create RE equipment hub in Punjab besides bringing in experienced German companies to execute high standard RE project in the state.

Majithia assured the delegation that the State would extend all help to German Industry. He said the state has an investor friendly policy in place supported by a specific New and Renewable Energy Policy. Making a strong case of huge potential for investment available in state in rooftop solar and biomass power, Majithia requested the delegation to help Punjab in emerging state in these sectors as Germany had a strong presence and proven track record in both the sector.

Germany has already started nuclear power phase out, and plans to close all its nuclear power plants by 2022. With investments on research in renewable energy, Germany is all set to have a competitive advantage in the renewable energy era.

On the sidelines...!

                  

• Bikram Majithia, in an attempt to tell the gathering of his enthusiasm in getting the project started, had the gathering in splits. He said one of the project developers was undergoing a nasty divorce. “But I told him, don’t sacrifice this project because of your failing marriage. Luckily for me, the project has been commissioned and he (the developer) has got the divorce,” he said
• Principal Secretary Industries and CEO of Invest Punjab, Anirudh Tewari, was definitely the man of the moment, with both Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and Majithia showering praises on him for keeping the solar mission on track
• Majithia sought a loan of Rs 200 crore from IREDA chairman KS Popli, who said he was expecting a request for a much bigger loan amount. Majithia was quick to reply, “You have spent two hours here and have to give us Rs 200 crore loan. Imagine if you were to travel five hours with me, I would have forced you to give us a Rs 5,000 crore loan”
• Sukhbir told the gathering that "Solar Sardars" were responsible for the solar revolution in Punjab. Referring to Bikram Singh Majithia; KS Popli, MD of IREDA; Upkar Singh Sandhu, chairman of Punjab Energy Development Agency; and two other Punjabis - Anirudh Tewari and Tarun Kapur, joint secretary in the Ministry of Renewable Energy, Badal said that the "sardars" of Punjab were taking the country forward in green energy.

Green power revolution                                                    in the offing !

From just 9 MW of installed solar power capacity in 2012, today the installed capacity in Punjab has crossed the 200 MW mark with more than 300 MW capacity in the pipeline. The state has seen a solar energy revolution, and is fast turning out to be an ideal investment destination. In an interaction withUpendra Singh on the sidelines of Punjab Solar Summit, Bikram Singh Majithia, Punjab’s New and Renewable Energy Minister, talks about the state’s plan for the renewable sector and the impending Green Power Revolution

Q. Today, Punjab is applauded for its tremendous success in solar energy. How does it feel to get recognitions from the Central government as well as from the investors?

Ans. It has been a tough journey. In 2012 when I was given the charge of this department, we were at a cumulative installed capacity of 9 MW. No solar power developers looked at Punjab in a favourable way because Punjab doesn’t have vast tracks of barren land. Each and every piece of land is very fertile. In our state, the farmers give respect to the land even more than their real mothers. So, we had to put in a policy, and we brought out a policy. We had to build and win the confidence of the investors, and I am happy that we did that.

I often say that solar was regarded as a fashion once upon a time, but now it is about survival. Solar energy has become a necessity because we will have to face serious problems in times to come due to depleting fossil fuel reserves. So, each and every state has to build its portfolio and we are doing our effort. We are very happy with the support that we are getting from the Government of India. For me, it is a proud moment. We have taken big steps with the support of our Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal. It is an honour to be a part of solar success story in Punjab.

Q. What are the measures that you took to instill confidence in the investors in Punjab’s solar programme?

Ans. During the course of preparation of the policy, we studies policies of various states and Centre and then finalised the Punjab’s policy. I also got a lot of support from Deputy CM, Sukhbir Singh Badal, in bringing a ‘single point clearance’ facility. The investors do not need to run from one department to another for getting clearances for setting up projects. All the clearances required for setting up projects are provided by a single person. We got a lot of benefit from this facility, as investors found it a hassle-free procedure.