VIJAYAWADA: State chief secretary (CS) K. Vijayanand has directed DISCOMs to meet AP government’s target of solarising 2.93 lakh agriculture pump sets and 1,156 feeders with a total capacity of 1,162.8 MW as part of the PM-KUSUM scheme.The CS said under the central scheme, 1,162.8 MW solar plants will be established over 5,842 acres of land already identified for the purpose. Vijayanand virtually reviewed the implementation of the scheme with officials including APTRANSCO JMD Keerthi Chekuri, CMDs of DISCOMs I. Pruthvi Tej, P. Pulla Reddy and K. Santosh Rao, APTRANSCO director (Grid) A.K.V. Bhaskar, and NREDCAP MD M. Kamalakar Babu, apart from developers of the plants. The chief secretary directed DISCOMs to coordinate with district collectors to expedite the handover of pending 1,700 acres of land to NREDCAP for setting up the solar power plants. He directed that power purchase and land lease agreements be signed with the selected developers, so that project execution proceeds without delay. Vijayanand asked NREDCAP to ensure smooth availability of central financial assistance as per project milestones. He instructed developers to complete the projects within 12 months. The CS underlined that solarisation of agricultural feeders will reduce the subsidy burden on the government, ensure reliable daytime power supply to farmers, and promote renewable energy usage in Andhra Pradesh. He directed that monthly reviews be conducted, so that issues related to delays in approvals and clearances can be addressed immediately. Officials participating in the meeting explained that APEPDCL had floated tenders and issued letters of intent (LoIs) for 220.3 MW covering 49,533 pump sets, APCPDCL has tendered 191.5 MW covering 76,602 pump sets, APSPDCL has concluded tenders for 610 MW covering 1,35,346 pump sets and issued LoIs, and Kuppam RESCO has cleared 141 MW plants covering 32,106 pump sets.
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