Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 14 (ANI): In an effort to increase the farmers’ income, the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPCL) has entered into a power purchase agreement with private developers to establish solar power generation plants of 7 MW on their barren lands in six districts as part of the Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) scheme.
On the directions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, solar power generation plants will be set up in Bijnor, Hathras, Mahoba, Jalaun, Deoria and Lucknow, the UPPCL chief M Devaraj said.
Under this scheme, farmers will set up solar power generation plants on their barren or uncultivable farmland with the assistance of various banks. Additionally, the government will provide subsidies for this, and by selling the electricity thus produced to the government or private power companies will enable the farmers to boost their income, the UPPCL chief said.
Under the KUSUM scheme, the government gives 90 per cent of the total cost of the solar pump as a subsidy to the farmers, he said.
According to the scheme, 5 acres of land is required to set up a 1-megawatt solar plant. That is, one acre of land generates 0.2 megawatts of electricity. Through this scheme, farmers can also eliminate the problems related to electricity in their area, he said.
Solar power generation plant of 1.5 MW will be set up in Vilaspur village of Bijnor, 0.5 MW (500 kW) in Mauhari of Hathras, 1 MW each in Mahoba’s Devgaon, Jalaun’s Khuksis and Deoria district’s Bariyarpur village while 2 MW solar power generation centre will be set up in Parseni village of Lucknow, said Devraj.
It is noteworthy that this programme will provide farmers with two benefits. They will first be able to use solar-powered irrigation pumps instead of outdated diesel irrigation pumps. Second, by selling the electricity produced by the solar plant installed at their farms to the power providers, they can make an additional Rs 80,000 each year, he said.
Meanwhile, he also said that through WhatsApp messages, Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPCL) offers services to power users regarding their bills and other issues.
At present, there are about 3.30 crore electricity consumers in the state, out of which 33 lakh have given their consent to avail of the facility of receiving messages, he added. (ANI)
