Ladakh MP Puts Conditions Before Rs 50,000 cr Mega Solar Project

Jamyang Namgyal, BJP MP representing Ladakh in Lok Sabha, has welcomed the mega solar power project in the region but wants a few conditions to be enforced

Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, the BJP MP representing Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency, has welcomed the center’s newly announced Rs 50,000-crore mega solar power project in the region but made it clear that it can go ahead if jobs are reserved for the locals and can work on a land lease model. Protecting the fragile ecology of Ladakh is of paramount importance, Namgyal said, adding the investor should also devote a part of the earnings as royalty for the locals.

“And whatever you earn from here, a part of it will have to be given to the council fund as royalty for ground development,” he said.

Following the Centre’s moves to abrogate Article 370 and create a separate Union Territory of Ladakh, there has been media report of an Rs 50,000-crore solar power project coming up in the region. “Investments are essential to come from outside, I welcome those. But there are a few conditions – we can’t give the land in your name, you will have to take it on lease and a portion of the jobs will have to be reserved for the local youth.”

The developmental model should be keeping in mind the fragile ecology of the region. We are not going to allow you otherwise, he made it clear. The lawmaker said Ladakh should not be looked at as an infertile piece of land alone, pointing to the region is an important tourist destination, rich in rare medicinal plants and also a repository of glaciers.

The need is to tread on a “middle path” between the development and the local interests, such that both the Ladakhis as well as rest of India benefit. “It’s not that we are closing ourselves, nor do we want anybody to exploit Ladakh,” he stressed.

Namgyal said Ladakh always possessed huge potential to develop solar energy and credited the Narendra Modi government for trying to tap the potential.

The Rs 50,000-crore mega solar project is touted as the single biggest investment in the space. A recent media report said sites have been identified for the grid-connected project.