Gujarat Solar Park

Gujarat Solar Park

In May 2014, Narendra Modi was elected the Prime Minister. He left his job as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, a state he had developed into one of India’s most economically productive one when he took reins in 2001. Right now, Gujarat is one of the few states in India which can boast of 24-7 electricity. And to supplement that is the Gujarat Solar Park.

Asia’s largest solar power park, the Gujarat Solar Park is a great initiative from Modi as a part of India’s efforts to curb carbon emissions. The most surprising thing is that what once was complete barren land, is now expected to generate 2/3^rd of India’s solar power production. Considering the massive 2012 blackout, awareness & use of renewable energy in India must increase & this is a great step towards it. By 2013, India aims for solar power to account for 3 percent of total national capacity and the nation wants renewable sources of energy to rise from the current 6 percent capacity to a whopping 15 percent of capacity by 2020.

As more & more solar plants are constructed in & around these areas, economic rural development is expected to occur. And there are other benefits too such as employment generation as well as irrigation water provision.

The huge power deficit and the recent challenges to coal & petroleum supply, is one of the main reason why Modi was voted into power. The success of the scheme, should propel other states to create & develop more solar parks. Projects such as the construction of new plants Dhirubhai Ambani Solar Park in Rajasthan, Welspun Solar Park (Madhya Pradesh), Sakri Solar Park(Maharashtra) and the development of solar park in Andhra Pradesh and Bhadla Solar Park (Rajasthan) are examples of these. More such sites for these plants are being identified by Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, and Karnataka etc. Foreign Investment, hence, is much required for these. And for that to occur, we must support & enhance our knowledge/use of solar energy.

As Thomas A. Edison once said “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.” Certainly, we don’t have to wait since we don’t have time to complete replace non-renewable energy with renewable forms. Other countries such as USA and China have already realized this and have formulated polices with regard to this.