Gandhinagar : Use of new and renewable energy is today’s need said, chief minister Bhupendra Patel. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, calling energy a necessity of human life and a part of life, clearly stated that judicious use of energy along with use of new energy sources and renewable energy is the demand of the present time. This renewable energy sector is also very important in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of making India a five trillion dollar economy. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was addressing on the occasion of Electricity Festival organized under the framework of ‘Ujjaval Bharat Ujjaval Bhavishya Power @2047’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme and the National Solar Rooftop Portal on this occasion by joining virtually from New Delhi. On this occasion, the Prime Minister e-detailed the energy projects of various states of the country, including the green hydrogen project at Kawas in Gujarat. In this program organized by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of the Central Government, the Prime Minister also interacted with the beneficiaries of various states of the country. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Energy Minister Kanu Desai participated in the electricity festival organized at Pandit Dindayal Energy University and awarded certificates to the beneficiaries of rooftop and solar plants in Gujarat and to the beneficiaries who got free electricity connection under slum electrification.
The Chief Minister said that the state government has always been promoting renewable energy. Projects like Charanka Solar Park and Solar Rooftop have made Gujarat a leading state in the country in the renewable energy sector. He added that in the past two decades, the government has successfully implemented many policies like Solar Policy, Wind Energy Policy, Small Hydro Policy and Hybrid Energy Policy to promote renewable energy. Bhupendra Patel added that this has resulted in a 105 percent increase in the total installed capacity of renewable energy. In 2001, this capacity was 165 MW, in 2001 it reached 17,300. The Chief Minister said that under the guidance of the Prime Minister, the largest renewable energy park of 30 thousand MW capacity is being developed in Kutch. He clearly stated that the Solar Rooftop Scheme is highly encouraged in the state to make people self-reliant in the use and generation of electricity. More than 2 lakh 96 thousand 750 electricity consumers across Gujarat have installed solar system and saved Rs. The Chief Minister also gave the role of getting subsidy of more than 19 crores. The Chief Minister pointed out that the capacity of renewable energy in the state has reached 41 GW in 2018 and 66 GW in 2030. He said that Gujarat is ready to fulfill Prime Minister’s determination of carbon emission through green-clean energy production. On this occasion, the Prime Minister in a video conversation with Dhiren Patel, a beneficiary of Aslali’s solar rooftop in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, said that the beneficiary said that today they not only get free electricity for their home use through the four kilowatt solar rooftop, but also earn from it by selling the excess electricity to power companies. As a result of the right policies of the government, the citizen of India today has become a power seller as well as a power user. In the state-level closing ceremony of the Electricity Festival, Mayor of Gandhinagar Mahanagarpalika Mr. Hiteshbhai Makwana, MLA Shambhuji Thakor, Zilla Panchayat President Dilip Patel, MD of UGVCL. Jayaprakash Shivhare, Commissioner of Gandhinagar Metropolitan Municipality Dr. Dhaval Patel, Chairman, Power Finance Corporation-MD. Ravindrasingh Dhillo, DG of PDEU. High officials of the Energy Department and beneficiaries were present, including Manoharan.
