Jaipur: With an installed capacity of 7738 MW of solar capacity, the desert state of Rajasthan has become the leader in solar energy production in the country. According to a recent report by the Ministry of New and Renewable energy, Rajasthan has overtaken Karnataka to the first position in the country.
Sharing this information chief minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted “I am happy to share that Rajasthan has come first in the country by installing 7,738 MW of solar power capacity.”
While congratulating the people of the state he claimed that this is the result of the Solar Energy Policy 2019 and the Rajasthan Investment Promotion Policy 2019 implemented by the state government.
Despite the lockdown due to Covid-19, the state has managed to attract investors and 2348.47 MW of new solar power projects with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore have been installed in the last 8 months in the state.
It is to note that the state has cleared investment proposals of more than Rs 34,000 crores in the hybrid energy sector under its solar energy ad investment promotion policies since April 2021 and most of them are of solar energy.
Notably, Rajasthan shines with 300-330 clear sunny days comparable to the deserts of Nevada and Colorado. The districts like Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Jodhpur are the regions with the best solar radiation. The state has a high level of solar radiation and large tracts of flat and undeveloped land which are considered to be critical resources of solar power production.
Rajasthan’s solar generation potential has been assessed at 142 GW. The state government plans to systematically harness this potential and has set for itself an ambitious target of 30 GW (30,000 MW) capacity by 2024-25.
