Three mega solar plants to come up in Karnataka

Karnataka has set the ball rolling for setting up three “ultra mega renewable energy power parks” in Bidar, Gadag and Koppal.

While the ambitious project of the Narendra Modi administration will use the state’s land, the energy will be transmitted to other states.

It will be rolled out in coordination with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) at the national level and the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd (KREDL).

For this purpose, KREDL is seeking to aggregate a total of 37,500 acres of land in these districts.

According to an official notification from KREDL, the renewable energy parks will have a capacity of 2,500 MW each and will require 12,500 acres in each of the three districts.

Highly placed sources in the energy department said the park would be developed on the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) model. For this, KREDL is acting as the land aggregator.

Once the land is acquired, it will be handed over to SECI, which will develop the parks and later commission the generated energy, sources said. However, there was no information available as to which states would benefit from these projects.

'Land lease on Pavagada model'

The land is being procured from landowners on the Pavagada solar park model. The government will take the land on lease from the public for a period of 28 years.

"The base price per acre will be on par with what was given in Pavagada, which is Rs 21,000 per acre per year's lease. It is estimated that landowners might get another Rs 3,000 above this price. However, the final call will be taken by the respective Deputy Commissioners," a senior official explained, requesting anonymity.

While earlier, November 19 was the deadline for landowners to get in touch with the department, KREDL has now extended it till November 30, based on interest shown by the public in these districts.

Some landowners from Mundargi in Bidar have already approached KREDL seeking to lease about 4,000 acres in one stretch. Yelburga in Koppal and Aurad in Bidar are the other two places where people have shown interest.

"These are parched lands where farmers are struggling to grow a single crop. Hence, they are keen on leasing it out. Neither is the government forcing anyone to part with their lands, nor will it consider any land being irrigated or with water sources in its vicinity," the official added.