Monday, May 27, 2013: The PGVCL (Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited) has planned upon installing 500 solar pumps in farms under a state government project. The total expenditure for this project is estimated to be around Rs 20 crores and the first beneficiaries will be farmers in Saurastra. This is the first phase of an extensive plan and if things go as per plan, the experiment will be put to widespread use.
According to PGVCL officials, the main goal of the project is to seek a sustainable form of alternate energy generation procedure and save the non-renewable resource that we are currently dependent upon. Also solar power is perhaps the best option available in the current scenario with plenty of potential in these parts of the country.
The officials also added that there are many pending applications from farmers requesting for electricity connection. While they are still awaiting approval, they could alternatively be considered to be a part of the experiment with the government willing to provide them with an alternate source of power.
The cost of a solar pump in India is Rs 4 lakh, but under the project taken up by PGVCL, farmers will have to pay just 20 per cent of the cost and the rest will be borne by the government. This amounts to Rs 80,000 for each subscriber.
Along with this solar pump project, PGVCL is also working upon a 6.30 MW solar power plant installation project at Rajkot and another 3.30 MW capacity plant at Bhavnagar. These surely would be great achievement for the state.