PUNJAB NEWS-Farooq Abdullah calls on Badal

Chandigarh, July 3, 2013: In a bid to tap maximum irrigation potential through non-conventional sources of energy for irrigation purposes in the state especially in the horticulture sector, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged the Government of India (GoI) to enhance the subsidy on solar water pumps from 30% to 80%.

This demand was raised by Badal before the Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy Dr. Farooq Abdullah, who called on Badal at the chief minister’s residence here this afternoon.

During the meeting, Badal said that Central government had been providing 80% subsidy of the benchmark price for solar water pumps as central financial assistance till 2004 but thereafter reduced it to 30%. He urged the Union Minister to restore the earlier subsidy available to the farmers.

In addition to this the chief minister also asked Abdullah to introduce Invertors and Battery backup system in the existing scheme of solar water pumps to enable the farmers to utilise their existing AC motor setup instead of purchasing new DC motors, which was not financially viable for them.

Regarding the state’s share of Rs. 285 crore for the development of non-conventional energy as per the 13th Finance Commission recommendations, Badal asked the Union Minister to get the process expedited for early release of the funds.

On the occasion, Farooq Abdullah assured Badal that he would soon take up all these issues with the Prime Minister personally for early solution, especially of subsidy enhancement for solar water pumps. He also advised Badal to personally write to the Prime Minister conveying his view point in this regard.

Emphasising to encourage the use of renewable energy sources, Union Minister said that their Ministry has supported installation of Solar Power Plants on the roof tops of all the government buildings like offices, institutions, colleges, hostels and hospitals to provide uninterrupted power supply besides water heating systems to reduce the conventional power load. Appreciating the efforts of the state government in popularising the solar and bio-mass energy, the Union Minister asked the Punjab government to launch a massive campaign to aware the general public for the optimum utilisation of these energy sources. He also asked to arrange Kissan Samalens (meetings) for which center would provide all types of technical support.

Prominent amongst those who were present on the occasion included Principal Secretary to CM SK Sandhu, Special Principal Secretaries to CM KJS Cheema and Gaggandip Singh Brar, Principal Secretary Power Anirudh Tiwari, CEO PEDA Manashvi Kumar and Director PEDA Balour Singh.