Assam To Set Up 50MW Solar Project On Land Evicted From Encroachers

Assam to Develop 50 MW Solar Power Project on Recovered Land

By Saur News Bureau/ Updated On Fri, Jan 13th, 2023

Highlights :

Assam state cabinet has decided to develop a 50 MW solar power plant on a vast 1000 bigha of land in Barchalla.
The government expects that this will further protect the area from any possibility of future encroachment.

Assam to Develop 50 MW Solar Power Project on Recovered Land

The state government of Assam has decided to develop a 50 MW solar power plant on a vast 1000 bigha of land in Barchalla of Sonitpur district. The vast area was cleared in an eviction drive last year by the government.

The government decided for the 50 MW solar project at a state cabinet meeting that was chaired by Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Chief Minister of Assam.

Assam Tourism Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said in a press conference after the cabinet meeting, “We will make a 50 MW solar park at Barchalla, where an eviction drive took place last year. This will further protect the area from any possibility of future encroachment.”

The Assam government removed the 299 families that had occupied the public property and living illegally on the public land on September 3 last year through a major eviction drive.

The Assam state cabinet also gave a nod to the installation of smart electricity meters in 44 lakh households of the state. This will come at an expenditure of Rs 4,362 crore. This in turn, is expected to create employment opportunities for 5,000 technicians and 2,000 research agents.

Under the ongoing Sagarmala project, the state government will also be building a closed river circuit that will connect five pilgrimages of Assam namely, Kamakhya, Doul Gobinda, Ashwaklanta, Umananda and Pandu Nath. Baruah said, “A ferry will connect these areas through a hop-on hop-off service. It will be a joint venture between the state government and the Centre. The state will have 45 per cent share, and 55 per cent will be held by the Centre.”

The Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) had recently released a consultancy tender for a 1 GW grid-connected solar project in the Karbi Anglong area. The Asian Development Bank will provide funding for the solar project via the ‘Mukhya Mantri Sauro Shakti Prokolpo’ program.

The state has also inked an agreement with SECI to develop 1000 MW of Floating Solar Power Projects in Assam through a Joint Venture Company.