By IANS,
Khadoda (Gujarat) : Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Friday inaugurated the first phase of the 10 MW Azure solar power plant here, one of the largest such in the country.
The plant in Sabarkantha district, which was Friday connected to the Gujarat State Electricity Board grid, will benefit over 100,000 people in the villages. It will reduce carbon emissions of up to 15,000 metric tonnes over a period of time.
“This marks a giant step towards realising Gujarat’s vision of leading India’s adoption of solar power,” Modi said, adding that the state is committed to establishing 100 MW capacity of solar power in next six months.
Hailing the initiative for green energy, the chief minister said that Gujarat contributed 50 percent to the total income generated through the sale of carbon credits in India.
“With this project, Azure completes investments of Rs.300 crore in solar power plants across the country,” said Chief Executive Officer Inderpreet Wadhwa.
Anita George, director of infrastructure at IFC, said Gujarat is on its way to becoming the world’s solar energy capital.
She added that that IFC is mulling an investment of Rs.450 crore in Gujarat to create 100 MW capacity of solar power generation.
In addition to Gujarat, Azure Power has agreements with the governments of Punjab and Rajasthan.