State to announce solar policy soon

In order to encourage renewable energy, the Karnataka government will come out with a solar energy policy soon, said Energy Minister D K Shivakumar.

“The State government has started taking into consideration, the views of various stakeholders on tapping the potential of solar energy in State. A policy will be announced soon,” he told reporters here on Wednesday.

On the lines of national solar mission by the Centre, Karnataka has also announced its policy by giving subsidy to developers to invest in the solar energy sector, he added.

There will not be any power cuts during summer this year, due to sufficient water storage in the hydel reservoirs, he said, adding that the State’s power distribution companies have already inked an MoU with several power producers for buying power at cheaper rates for the summer days.

The minister said that several private firms have shown interest to generate power from gas supplied by GAIL from Dabhol to Karnataka. It may be noted that GAIL had already inked an MoU with KPCL to supply gas to the proposed gas-based power generating station at Bidadi.