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Two states – Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh – have deployed higher capacities through the solar park scheme.
The Scheme for “Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects” was rolled out in December 2014 with an aggregate capacity of 20,000 MW. Further, the capacity of the Solar Park Scheme was enhanced to 40,000 MW in March 2017 to set up at least 50 Solar Parks. The timeline of the scheme is up to 2023-24.
Objective
The objective of this scheme is to provide land and transmission to RE developers on a plug-and-play basis. i.e, the infrastructure such as land, roads, power evacuation system water facilities are developed with all statutory clearances/approvals. Thus, the scheme helps expeditious development of utility-scale solar projects in the country.
The capacity of the Solar Parks is generally 500 MW and above. However, smaller parks (up to 20 MW) are also considered in States/UTs where there is a shortage of non-agricultural land. It is estimated that 4-5 acres per MW of land is required for setting up of solar parks.
Under the above scheme, 50 Solar Parks with an aggregate capacity of 37,490 MW have been sanctioned as of November 30, 2023.
Against sanctioned capacity, 11 solar parks with aggregate capacity of 8521 MW have been completed and 8 solar parks with aggregate capacity of 4910 MW have been partially completed. Thus, solar projects of aggregate capacity of 10,401 MW have been developed in States and 4 States are yet to commission any capacity, according to information provided by R K Singh, Union Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy at the Lok Sabha.
As of November this year, 50 solar park projects across 12 states were sanctioned. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have been sanctioned 9 parks (for a capacity of 8276 MW), 8 parks (4180 MW), 7 parks (3730 MW), 7 parks (12,150 MW) and 5 parks (4200 MW) respectively.
Of the 10,401 MW capacity, Rajasthan has so far commissioned 3065 MW of capacity, while Andhra Pradesh has commissioned 3050 MW. Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh have commissioned 2000 MW and 1000 MW capacity respectively.
Under the solar park scheme, the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of up to ₹25 lakh per solar park for the preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR). Besides this, CFA of up to ₹20 lakh per MW or 30 per cent of the project cost, including grid-connectivity cost, whichever is lower, is also provided for achieving the milestones prescribed in the scheme.
The total Central Grants approved under the Scheme is ₹8,100 crore. Solar Energy Corporation of India & Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) implement the scheme and also handle the funds being made available under the scheme.
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