Two Andhra villages to run completely on solar power

New Delhi, Mar 28: In a first of its kind of green development initiative, two Andhra villages - Toorputallu and Pedhamyanavanilanka - will be electrified completely on solar power from this year.

"These will be the first two villages in the country to be run 100 per cent on solar power," said Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who has adopted these two villages under the Sansad Aadarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY).

A 2 MW solar power plant will be developed by a private entity and the power generated by the plant will be bought by Andhra Pradesh discom APEPDCL.

"Pedhamyanavanilanka & Toorputallu (Andhra). Serving PM Shri @narendramodi's call for use of solar power," Sitharaman tweeted. As per the proposal, the district administration has earmarked the required land and APEPDCL has consented to buy power from the developer.

The solar plant will be completed by August 2016. The plant would also generate substantial income for the village - 60 paise per unit.

The SAGY was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is an ambitious village development project under which each Member of Parliament will take the responsibility of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019.

PTI