Gujarat ideal destination for investment in Renewable Energy: Saurabhbhai Patel

Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh) [India] October 09 (ANI): Gujarat Energy Minister Saurabhbhai Patel has invited private players of Energy sector to invest in Renewable Energy in Gujarat.
Speaking at Gujarat session in the second Global RE-Invest Summit, organised at Expo Mart, Greater Noida, he said that, the aim of his government is to provide energy at a cheaper rate to farmers and citizens. He also appealed to the private investors to invest in this sector.
He talked about Surya Shakti Kisan Yojna (SKY) which is the big scale pilot project of the state government and claimed that it would be a game changer as it not only makes the farmers self-reliant but also gives them an additional source of income. The local farmers who have experienced the scheme lauded it and requested others to join in too. This project has been set up at a cost of Rs. 875 crore to cater to 12,400 farmers. As the 26 percent power is being utilized in the agricultural sector which is a very high ratio, he suggested investors to make an investment in this project.
He recalled the vision of then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, and said that he had a vision for Gujarat to lead the nation by its example in the solar sector. Patel also said that Gujarat has realised Narendra Modi's vision by being the first state to set up India's first and Asia's largest Solar Park at Charanka in Patan district and the country's first MW scale canal-top solar plant at Chandrasan in Mehsana district of Gujarat.
He further said that now, Gujarat envisions to facilitate and promote gigawatt (GW) scale addition of solar power generation capacities while taking into account the interest of all its stakeholders, be it investors, developers, Technology Providers, Grid operators or consumers. In addition to that, Gujarat has introduced hybrid wind power policy and soon Solar Land Policy will be implemented. Gujarat, will also soon witness country's first 1 GW offshore wind projects.
As the cost of the conventional source of energy is too high to be borne for a long time and ever-growing economy of Gujarat can't afford the load- shading, the minister put forth the immediate and urgent need to find alternative sustainable renewable sources of energy. Highlighting the major strengths of Gujarat to the investors; Solar Parks, Hybrid Energy Policy (Solar and Wind), Surya Shakti Kisan Yojna and Ready to Use Transmission Techniques, he encouraged them to invest in Gujarat in Renewable Energy sector.
Raj Gopal, Principal Secretary (Energy) also made a presentation on "Renewable Energy in Gujarat". Moreover, Praveenbhai Parmar, a farmer of Dhundhi village of Kheda district shared his experience of the benefits of Solar Power in the agriculture sector. The Energy Minister also visited Gujarat and other state's pavilion in the Expo- Mart. Anand Kumar, Chairman, GERC, senior officers from State Government and a large number of delegates, investors from India and abroad attended the event. (ANI)