Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday inaugurated and launched various schemes run by UREDA at the Chief Servant Sadan located at the Chief Minister’s Camp Office. On this occasion, he launched the portal www.uredaonline.uk.gov.in for application and issuance of grants under the Solar Water Heater Grant Scheme.
Solar power plants and solar water heaters installed on government buildings of the state, 1.26 MW solar power plants on 27 buildings and 48400 liter capacity solar water heater plants installed on 44 government buildings were inaugurated. Project allotment letters were provided to 47 beneficiaries of the Chief Minister Solar Self-Employment Scheme and 04 beneficiaries were given checks of state grants under the PM Suryaghar Scheme.
The Chief Minister said that the importance of renewable energy has increased rapidly across the country. Renewable energy sources have emerged as a better alternative to traditional fossil-based fuels. The Chief Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken important steps towards eliminating carbon emissions from India and under the Panchamrit Action Plan, a target has been set to produce 500 GW of renewable energy in India by the year 2030. The target has been set to make the country carbon neutral by 2070. Under the Pradhan Mantri Kusum Yojana, farmers are getting subsidy and support for setting up solar pumps and solar power plants, due to which the use of renewable energy in the agricultural sector is also increasing.
The Chief Minister said that there is a lot of potential in the field of solar energy and hydropower in Uttarakhand. A new solar energy policy has been formulated to promote solar energy rapidly in the state. A target has been set to install solar power plants on all government buildings in the state by the year 2026. A provision of Rs 100 crore has been made for this.
To promote rooftop solar plants, a joint subsidy of 70 percent is being given by the Central and State Government. PM Under the Suryaghar Yojana, a grant of Rs 3.72 crore has been given to 734 beneficiaries in the state so far for the installation of rooftop solar power plants. It has been decided to provide a grant of 30 to 50 percent on the installation of solar water heater plants for domestic and non-domestic consumers.
Under the Mukhyamantri Solar Swarojgar Yojana, solar power plants of 133 MW capacity have been given to 750 developers so far through the installation of solar power plants. Through this scheme, a target has been set to install solar plants with a capacity of 250 MW by 2026.