Environment

Sakri solar power plant may not be shifted after all

Cost escalation made Maharashtra's power generation company reconsider present site in Dhule district;

Aparna Pallavi

The Sakri solar power plant in Maharashtra's Dhule district is touted as the world's largest solar power plant till date. Sometime ago there was a proposal to shift the  plant to Chandrapur district in Vidarbha region  following dispute over the land where the project will be developed. The move triggered protests in the tribal district where people see the 125 MW project  as a lifeline that would usher in industrialisation and employment. It now seems that Dhule may get to keep the power plant after all.

Subrat Ratho, managing director of the state power generation company, Mahagenco, has confirmed that the process for obtaining forest clearance has been initiated, raising hopes that the project will not be shifted.

Land tangle

The sequence of events relating to the acquisition of land for the Sakri solar PV (photovoltaic) power plant has many twists and turns. The project was proposed in 2010 under the Central government’s Jawahar Saur Urja Yojana (national solar mission). Initially, after the land in survey numbers 128 and 129 in village Shivajinagar in Sakri tehsil was identified, deputy conservator of forests (DCF) of Dhule, H M Patil, issued a no-objection certificate; the land in question was understood to be government land.

Sakri power plant's ups and downs

  • Project was proposed in 2010 under the Central government’s Jawahar Saur Urja Yojana
  • Land in survey numbers 128 and 129 in village Shivajinagar in Sakri tehsil was identified as project site
  • On November 18, 2010, forest department raised an objection, saying 225 ha of land identified in survey No 129 was actually forestland and that permission from the Centre would have to be obtained
  • By then Mahagenco had already acquired 88 ha land in survey no 128
  • On March 3, 2011, at a high-level meeting held by chief secretary, it was concluded that the 314.98 ha of land in survey no 128 is indeed government land
  • On May 20, 2011, state cabinet cleared the project. A Rs 1,600 crore loan agreement was signed between the Government of India and KFW German Development Bank on August 10
  • Forest department brought to the State government’s notice that as per affidavits filed before Supreme Court in 1997 and 2008, the current status of the land in question is ‘identified forest’
  • Mahagenco started seriously considering shifting the location of the project to Chandrapur in eastern Vidarbha. It triggered public protests as people were hoping the project would usher in industrialisation and create jobs
  • In view of the rise in project cost if the location is shifted to Chandrapur, Mahagenco has decided to go ahead with the process of obtaining clearance from the Centre, which will include compensatory afforestation, in Dhule itself
 
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