Bengal to be one of India's three major solar power producing states

West Bengal is set to emerge a leader in solar power generation, along with Gujarat and Rajasthan, under the National Solar Mission (NSM).
The three states together will produce nearly 30 % of the 1,300 MW of solar power targeted by 2013 by the ministry of new and renewable energy, according to S.P. Gon Chowdhury, managing director of the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corp.

On the sidelines of a seminar on climate change in Kolkata, Chowdhury said the three states have asked the ministry to allot 345 MW solar power projects to them.
"West Bengal has set a target of producing 110 MW of solar power by 2013, involving an investment of Rs 1,500 crore by different companies," he added.

A total 15 MW of solar power currently being generated in West Bengal involving total investment of Rs800 crore over the last three years, Chowdhury said. He indicated that Gujarat and Rajasthan were expected to generate 130 MW and 100 MW of solar power respectively in three years.
The West Bengalgovernment, he said, had targeted setting up of 1 lakh solar home lighting units in the state in two to three years under the centre-sponsored decentralised distributed generation scheme.

The state was also expected to manufacture solar modules capable of producing 500 MW of power by 2022, he said. The national target in this regard is 5,000 MW.
A number of companies, including Webel, Reliance Industries, Videocon, Moser Baer and Astonfield, have rolled out their investment plans in the renewable energy sector in West Bengal, Chowdhury said. The state was also expected to produce 5 MW from "rooftop projects", he added.

Earlier, renewable energy minister Farooq Abdullah said in the first phase of the National Solar Mission, the government would target addition of 1,300 MW by 2013 of the total targeted solar power generation of 20,000 by 2022. The government would decide on the next phases after reviewing the achievements in the first phase.
"We expect the generation tariff to be between Rs 15 andRs 17 per unit," Chowdhury said. The tariff is Rs 15 per unit at present. Since the centre will buy the entire generated power and converge state and central tariff, it is for the ministry to decide which state will be asked to generate how much, he said.

Chowdhury said power major NTPC would float a company, NTPC Bidyut Vapyar Nigam, which would buy the entire solar power generated and put it into the grid.