Top priority to green energy projects: KTR

Hyderabad: GOVERNMENT of Telangana is giving highest priority to green energy projects, and the State stands in the second position in the country in production of solar energy, Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development KT Rama Rao said after inaugurating Premier Energies' new facility at E-City in Maheswaram Mandal of Rangareddy district on Thursday.

On the occasion, he said: "The government has been sincerely working to facilitate setting up of industry in the State by providing support and making available all the necessary resources and that is the reason for attracting over 17,000 industries and Rs 2.2 lakh crore investments. TS-ipass has proved to be a game changer. Exactly 18 months ago there was no industry in this place, when Covid was on rampage, and we were having problems with China. In such adverse situation, Premier Energy asked for land allocation and the government allocated land under TS-ipass."

Some of the machinery installed here needed the technical expertise of engineers from China, but due to sour relations between the two countries, they were not in a position to come, but our engineers employed in this plant bridged the gap and made the plant operational. Most of those employed here are locals coming from deprived sections of the society, KTR observed. "Premier Energies promised to invest further Rs 1,200 crore to expand this project and provide employment for another 2,000 people. We request the management to ensure that majority of the employment goes to the local youth, as the government is committed to ensure that you get additional incentives if you provide employment to the locals." Premier Energies has set up ambitious goal to scale up the production to 4-GW capacity for modular and cells manufacturing by 2024, they are committed to setting up India's largest plant here in two and half years and the State government assured them to provide all the required support. The government is also starting a skill development centre on August 5 in this area.

Chiranjeev Saluja, Founder and MD, Premier Energies said, "This plant has been built with an investment of Rs 483 crore, spread across 25 acres, and it has been designed to produce the latest generation products, designed to drive the industry to a greener tomorrow. This launch is significant as it contributes to Make in Telangana and Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiatives." The expansion has more than doubled the company's capacity. The new plant will produce more than 750 mw of solar cells and 750 mw of solar modules. Around 700 people are employed in this plant and more than 80 per cent of them are from Telangana. We wish to expand this base from 750 MW per annum to a 3,000 MW per annum plant, which will result in creation of 2,000 additional jobs."