Going green: Punjab gets world's biggest rooftop solar plant

Beas (Punjab): Touted to be the biggest one of its kind in the world, the 11.5 MW rooftop solar energy plant was inaugurated on Tuesday by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at the Radha Soami sect headquarters here. [caption id=“attachment_2785706” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rooftops covered in solar panels at the Indian Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant on Tuesday. AFP/Getty Images[/caption] Spread in an area of over 82 acres, the solar plant has been built at a cost of Rs 139 crore by the Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) in this town, 45 km from Amritsar. With emphasis on green technology, it will generate nearly 150 lakh units annually and is expected to offset 19,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually. Chief Minister Badal lauded the sect management for setting up the rooftop solar plant, while state New and Renewable Energy Minister Bikram Singh Majithia said that the Punjab government was focussing on setting up of solar energy plants across the state. The Punjab government had recently claimed that the state had set a national benchmark in solar power generation with a 172 times increase in just three years. Investment in the solar power sector increased from a small Rs 70 crore to over Rs 12,000 crore in 2015. From farmers having land holding of just four acres to MNCs, Punjab is seeing a solar revolution of sorts. Investors include NRIs, big corporates and foreign investors. To promote solar plants, the Punjab government has already announced incentives for this sector to attract more investment.