Vadodara: The Gujarat government is setting up a centrally located 250 MW solar power plant to supply electricity to eight municipal corporations, including Vadodara. Under this project, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) will receive 45 MW of solar power.

Chairman of the Standing Committee, Dr. Sheetal Mistry, in a media briefing, said, “The Gujarat government is building a centrally located 250 MW solar power plant, which will distribute power to eight municipal corporations. As part of this project, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation will receive 45 MW of solar power. The investment for this 45 MW solar plant will be around ₹261 crore. Out of this, ₹131.5 crore will be borne by the government, while ₹131.5 crore will be borne by Vadodara city. An investment of ₹43.1 crore will be made, and ₹87 crore will be raised through a loan spanning 3-4 years, with an annual interest payment of ₹45 lakh. The savings from the 45 MW solar power plant, after adjusting for electricity costs, will be around ₹42 crore per year. The proposal for this project was laid by the Gujarat government, and with this initiative, we are moving forward towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.”

In this projct, Ahemdabad will have 80 MW partnership while Surat 40, Vadodara and Rajkot 45 each, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh and Bhavnagar will have 10 MW partnership each. The project will be led by Gujarat government arm Gujarat Urban Development Corporation Ltd (GUDCL). The life of the project shall be 25 years. VMC will need to pay installments and interest and Rs. 45 lakh per year for operational and management, but will save on Rs. 42 crore power bill every year. The 250 MW solar plant will in totall save Rs. 234 crores on power bills.

DeshGujarat