The TRS government of India is planning to illuminate 10,000 villages in Telangana with solar powered streetlights in partnership with National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) Technology Park in the next five years, according to The Hindu.
Minister for IT and Panchayat Raj K. T. Rama Rao has appreciated the initiatives taken by NIRD for the promotion of solar energy.
Rao held talks with the NIRD director general M.V. Rao on different methods of tapping solar energy and taking advantage of it to meet the power shortage crisis in State.
Minister also asked NIRD to design a customized solar and renewable energy concept for Telangana for a massive scale production, covering segments such as solar lighting, maintenance and training of rural persons.
The Telangana government plans to involve local industries in all the ten districts to partner with the government in realizing the solar mission. Minister enquired about the incentives offered by the National Solar Mission and various other agencies.
The solar power units will have inter-connectivity through 33 kv, 132 kv and 220 kv sub-stations.
NIRD’ s mission is to develop rural development professionals trained and dedicated to manage issues faced in rural areas. It is an autonomous institute operating under Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development and Government of India.
All the ten districts of Telangana have been suffering under power shortages.Soon after the formation of Telangana, southern and northern power distribution companies have decided to go ahead with a proposal to set up a 500 MW capacity solar power plant.
The five districts- Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Medak, Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar- under Southern Power Distribution Company of the State need 4,000 MW per day while the present distribution is only 3,500 to 3,600 MW
Sabeena Wahid
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