Telangana to empower Self Help Groups, to allot 1 MW solar plant

According to officials, the State government would provide land and loan facilities for the establishment of these solar plants

Hyderabad: In an effort to empower women Self Help Groups (SHGs) financially, the State government has decided to allot 4,000 solar plants of 1 megawatt capacity to each SHG in the State.

According to officials, the State government would provide land and loan facilities for the establishment of these solar plants.  The cost of setting up a 1 MW solar plant would be around Rs 3 crore and of the total cost, 10 per cent has to be borne by the SHG groups and the remaining 90 per cent would be arranged through a bank loan.

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Suitable lands for setting up solar plants would be identified and given on lease to eligible women’s groups and federations. The government is planning to set up each plant on four acres.

The installation of the plants will be completed within a week of getting the approvals from the Energy Department. One megawatt of solar power produced through these plants is estimated to provide an income of Rs 30 lakh per annum to the SHGs.

The government has directed the Energy and Panchayat Raj Department officials to take necessary steps to identify lands for the project and arrange bank loans for the SHGs.

Officials will also hold meetings with bankers to arrange loans for the project. Since a majority of the SHGs are having a good track record of loan repayments, there might not be any problem in getting loans for the project, the officials feel.