Solar power panels: Land scheme to be extended to coastal, Malnad areas

 Energy Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said the scheme by the Energy Department, in which the agricultural land is obtained from farmers on rental basis to install solar panels, will be extended to coastal and Malnad regions.

He was speaking at the stage programme organised at Town Hall after inaugurating the ‘Mescom Bhavana’, the new administrative building of Mescom at Bejai in Mangaluru on Thursday.

The minister said the scheme has been implemented successfully in the plain region and there is a demand to implement it in coastal and Malnad regions. Land will be taken on rent to produce 20 MW solar power in each taluk, Shivakumar added.

It has been decided to produce 5000 MW of power from solar energy in the state and programmes are being executed under the solar policy, he stated.

Vacancies filled up

Shivakumar said 12,000 vacant posts have been filled in various escoms in the state after he took as the energy minister. As many as 25,000 posts were vacant and among them, 20,000 were that of linemen. The rest of the vacancies will be filled within six months, he said.

The department has sanctioned funds for government schools and other government establishments based on the infrastructure and the scheme will be continued, he stated.
He said that the government has been supplying electricity to farmers’ pump sets. In the days to come, the electricity will be supplied during morning also. Within a year, the state will source electricity from various sources for round-the-clock supply, he noted.

Mescom Bhavan

Mescom Bhavan is an eight-floor building built at a cost of Rs 25 crore. The area of the building is 61,000 sqft and it contains facilities, such as solar roof-top and rainwater harvesting system.

District In-charge Minister B Ramanath Rai inaugurated the function. Mangaluru South MLA J R Lobo, MLC Ivan D’Souza, Mayor Harinath, Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim and Mescom MD Chikkananjappa were present.