Mumbai, Dec 24 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday that solar villages using solar energy are being set up across the state, which will provide electricity to farmers in the state during the day and in the future this green energy will create a second green revolution.

The Chief Minister announced this via video conferencing at the inauguration of the solar projects at Umbartha in Washim district and Narangwadi in Dharashiv district under the Mukhyamantri Saur Krishi Vahini Yojana 2.0 (MSKVY 2.0).

He said that due to the Chief Minister Solar Agricultural Channel Scheme, farmers will be provided with sustainable and free electricity during the day.

It provides 16,000 MW of electricity to the farmers of the state, he added.

"The work of bringing all these feeders to solar energy has been started for two years. All these feeders will be brought to solar energy in phases. Farmers will be able to get electricity even during the day," he said.

The state power distribution undertaking - Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MahaVitran), which is a nodal agency for the implementation of MSKVY 2.0, said that out of the total 29 million consumers in Maharashtra, around 45 lakh are agriculture consumers and consume 22 per cent of electricity.

At present, power supplied to agricultural consumers is during day and night-time on a rotational basis.

The nighttime power supply to farmers is creating a lot of inconvenience to them and there is a constant demand for a long time to provide reliable electricity supply to farmers during the daytime.

On the other hand, there is also a strong demand that the industries and businesses in the state should be supplied with electricity at a reasonable rate to maintain their competitiveness.

To overcome these problems, an innovative scheme called the "Mukhyamantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana" was introduced in June 2017, wherein decentralised solar projects of 2 to 10 MW capacity will be installed within 5- km radius from the agriculture-dominated sub-stations.

Looking at the immense benefits of AG feeder solarisation, the state government decided to reframe the scheme after detailed deliberation with stakeholders.

The state government reframed the scheme as Mukhymantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana 2.0 (MSKVY 2.0) and set objective of 30 per cent feeder solarisation by 2025 as a 'Mission 2025' by implementing 7,000 MW decentralised solar projects on fast-track mode, wherein such projects within the 5-10 km radius from agriculture load dominated distribution substation will be installed with the capacity from 0.5 to 25 MW for giving daytime power to farmers.

Courtesy Media Group: IANS

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