Solar Energy: The remote possibility for relief in Power starved Bihar

http://saurshakti.blogspot.com/

Suffering in  Bihar 

As the mercury soars high, hand fan is the only way out  in the power-starved Bihar.   People   live in the lantern age there. Electricity in towns fails regularly. In villages, it is not there at all.

All towns districts and villages are hit badly due to  lack of power. If there is power at night, it is considered a gift for the very few who have electricity connections for a few hours. Protests  against power shortage are marked by attacks on Electricity offices resulting in more power cuts.

Bihar faces a deficit of more than 1,000-1,200 MW of power a day. Bihar faces a serious power crisis due to shortage of supply from the central grid.  Bihar produces 100-120 MW a day from its two thermal power units at Barauni in Begusarai and Kanti in Muzaffarpur district. The state is dependent on central grid for power. By conservative estimates, Bihar needs 2,200-2,500 MW of power a day but gets less than 900 MW from the central  pool despite a daily allocation of 1,646 MW.


Solar Energy
http://mnre.gov.in/pdf/jnnsm-g170610.pdf

Government's Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission announced in January 2010  aims at a quantum leap in solar power installation in the country targeting  20,000 megawatt (Mw) of solar power by 2022.  Investment proposals over Rs 1,00,000 crore have been received by the Government.  Huge incentives offered by the government are very attractive for  business houses as the opportunities coming up are  very  large.  Last year  the government received proposals worth over Rs 1.2 lakh crore under the Special Incentive Package Scheme from solar and photovoltaics (PV) manufacturers.

To make solar power attractive, project developers have been offered many fiscal incentives, including a 10-year tax holiday for photovoltaic (PV) and thermal solar plants set up by 2020, reduced customs duty and zero excise duty on specific capital equipment, critical materials and project imports, besides loans at cheap interest rates. As per the Generation Based Incentive (GBI) programme, the Government provides financial assistance of Rs 12 per unit in case of solar photovoltaic and Rs 10 per unit in case of solar thermal power fed to the electricity grid from a grid interactive solar power plant of a capacity of 1 MW and above for a period of 10 years.  Solar equipment makers also get incentives as per Special Incentive Package (SIP), for setting up integrated solar manufacturing plants.

There is enormous potential for off-grid PV deployment in India, based on real needs and benefits, in the areas of rural lighting and electrification, for powering irrigation pump sets, back up power generation for the expanding network of cellular towers across the country, captive power generation, urban applications and highway lighting,

Solar energy utilization has just started in India, with less than 10 MW of installed capacity, though the total generation capacity is huge, 1,60,000 MW and the Mission wants to tap 20,000 MW.  The hopes are high, but  questions behind these hopes are no less. 


The basic fundamental question remains:
lack of effectiveness and efficiency of the Mission at the hands of the greedy and profit mongering elements amongst the Governments, Contractors and Business Promoter communities which have so far kept Bihar inhabitable for the past 63 years.  The lack of effectiveness and efficiency of Governments and Contractors was conveyed by the Director(RE) in the Ministry of Power of the Government of India  on August 10, 2007 in the following words : 

" This has reference to your e-mail to Secretary, Ministry of Power regarding electrification of your home villages Chakauti in Sitamarhi district.
(http://chakauti-rkant.blogspot.com/)

The matter has been got checked up. GOI has launched Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana for electrification of un-electrfied villages, intensive electrification of electrified villages and to provide free connections to BPL families. A project under the scheme has been sanctioned for the district Sitamarhi also. Chakauti village was not included under the project by the state for electrification as it was declared as electrifed earlier. However, during detailed survey during implementation of the sanctioned project, it was found that the village has got de-electrified. A supplementary project has been prepared to cover the village.

The RGGVY was for X Plan only. The proposal for continuation of the Scheme for XI Plan is under consideration of the Govt. The supplementary project will be sanctioned after approval of the scheme.

Best regards.

Yours sincerly

Director (RE)
Ministry of Power" 

The fact is that the village was never electrified, and there was no question of its getting de-electrified; no home has been electrified in Chakauti so far. Whatever "done  or undone" was only in the government's records.