Hitting out at successive governments in Punjab over the “callous attitude” adopted by them towards environmental pollution in the State, the New and Renewable Energy Minister Aman Arora on Wednesday said the government would soon ramp up renewable energy sources to ensure optimum use of natural solar energy for providing a clean and green environment to the people.
He was reviewing major projects of the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) at a high-level meeting here. He directed the officials to give special focus to transitioning to renewables and green energy to deal with rising energy costs and combat climate change.
He also directed the officials to assess the feasibility for solar-powered agricultural pumps as several farmers have been using diesel agri-pumps to irrigate their crops, which he said has been increasing agriculture input costs and polluting the environment. “Our government is fully committed to increasing the income of farmers by reducing their expenses on farming,” he said.
During the meeting, the minister was apprised that 15,525 solar pumps have already been installed in the State and a target of equipping 9,000 pumps with solar panels has been sought from Government of India for Financial Year 2022-23. Around 13.88 lakh electric motor pump sets are being used for irrigation in the State and the State government provides free power worth `6,988 crore annually, according to a statement.
Mr. Arora also asked the officials to explore the possibility of floating solar photovoltaic (PV) projects at Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant, Bathinda and the Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant at Lehra Mohabbat, besides exploring modalities for installation of more canal-top solar PV projects in the State.
