Wednesday, May 21, 2014: In a move that brings much-awaited respite for the solar power manufacturers In Punjab, the state government has paved way for leasing out the vacant panchayat lands to them. A majority of solar manufacturers in the state, who have inked the power purchase agreement (PPA) with state power utility, could not acquire land because of the exorbitant land prices. This was one of the major hindrances to the solar power mission in the state.
A recent notification from the state government aims to resolve the issue by assisting the developers in speedy implementation of their projects. Punjab government had allocated the solar power projects to as many as 26 developers for 250 MW capacity. This allocation had happened after the competitive bidding process. These chosen developers had then signed a power purchase agreement with the state power utility for bringing up the solar projects. Only 50 per cent of these developers could arrange land by either entering into leasing agreements with farmers or acquisition.
According to sources quoted in a Business Standard report, the state government has addressed the issue by providing vacant panchayat land on lease hold basis. The rural department of the state has reportedly issued notification in this regard. With this notification, the solar power players can now initiate their projects.
The companies who are setting up their projects in the state include Lanco Solar Energy, Punj Lloyd Infrastructure, Moser Baer Clean Energy, Essel Infra Projects, Asopus Infrastructure (India Bulls), Welspun Solar Punjab , Azure Urja etc.
