Gujarat Allots 6000 Ha Land For Renewable Energy Park In Banaskantha

In a key decision, the state government of Gujarat has decided to make an allotment of more than 6,000 hectares of land for the development of a mega size renewable energy park. The large RE facility will come up in Banaskantha district that lies in the Rann of Kutch. This is one of the largest allotments of land for renewable energy production.

The decision was announced after a high-powered committee (HPC) met in the state capital Gandhinagar. Following the meet, the government resolved to allot 6,024 hectares for a Solar-Wind Hybrid Park. Government wasteland will be allotted for the purpose. The key meet was chaired by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. According to reports, the high profile committee meeting was attended by some of the top executives from the industries and mines, sales, finance, and energy departments. The government wasteland where the plot will be allotted for the hybrid RE park is situated in the Little Rann of Kutch region. Gujarat has adopted a strategy under which land may be given for renewable energy projects.

As per reports, the large RE project will have a capacity of 9,000 MW.

Gujarat- A Promising Clean Energy State 

Gujarat is one of the key performing states in the renewable energy sector – in both solar and wind segments. In December 2020, the state government had announced a new policy removing restrictions on the capacity for solar power production to help achieve the target of producing 30,000 MW by 2022.

Rann of Kutch, a stretch of about 72,600 hectares or 726 square kilometres — has been chalked out for what is being touted as the world’s largest hybrid solar-wind power park.

During the same period, Prime Minister Narendra Modi built the foundation stone for a large renewable energy project in the Rann of Kutch, generating 30 gigawatts of clean power with a mega size investment of of Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The government has set aside 726 square km of land which equals the size of Singapore and has been termed as the largest solar-wind hybrid project.

Last year, NTPC had announced that the state owned company had received a nod from the government to establish 4,750 MW renewable energy park at Khavada. NTPC said that  it would be the country’s largest solar park built by it under Mode 8 (Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Park) of Solar Park Scheme. NTPC REL aspires to generate green hydrogen on a commercial scale in this project.