TN pioneer in developing solar photovoltaic power plant

Chennai:

Tamil Nadu may be the leader in wind energy but the state is also the pioneer in developing first solar photo voltaic power plant.

Addressing an press conference here on Tuesday, V Gautam, director of B&G Solar Private Ltd and a first generation entrepreneur, said that the plant in Kuttalam taluka of Nagapattinam district in the state has won the Prime Minister’s Award for being the first solar photo voltaic power plant developer in India.

He said his company was the first to commission the 1 MW solar power project under the rooftop photo voltaic and small solar generation programme under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) scheme.

The award was bestowed on the company on September 21 at Jaipur during dedication to the nation of solar power plants commissioned under phase-I of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, said Gautam.

Gautam says now the company is focusing on clean energy and has invested in gas, mini hydro and wind. He hailed the state’s solar policy and urged the state government to provide opportunities for small entrepreneurs to grow especially in the solar energy sector.

He said the focus is currently limited to only the big players. “If the government comes out with a 100 MW scheme, it could allot at least 10 per cent of it to small entrepreneurs,” he says.

This would boost entrepreneurship besides create more jobs also,” he added.