Maharashtra Steps On Accelerator For 7000 MW Green Feeder

Maharashtra Unveils Portal To Fast-Tracks 7 GW Feeder Scheme

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis chaired a review meeting on the ‘Mukhyamantri Saur Krishi Vahini Yojana 2.0’. He also launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Saur Krishi Vahini Yojana 2.0 Project Management Portal.’ The scheme aims to generate 7,000 MW of solar energy to provide daytime electricity to farmers. The scheme was envisaged as a self paying scheme in how it would remove the need for expensive grid power with solar power from a parallel grid. The savings were expected to more than pay for the costs involved within 6-8 years.

He instructed that all solar feeder project works should be completed by September 2026. With 15,284 MW of capacity projects underway, the scheme is set to become one of the world’s largest decentralized solar initiatives. To date, 1,359 MW has been completed, benefiting 214,000 farmers.

Fadnavis said, “Maharashtra has already surpassed the Central Government’s 100-day target of 690 MW by achieving 746 MW. Due to challenges related to the environment, forest, and security in some projects, also directed the formation of district-level task forces.”

Some Key Directives:

• Every district must establish a task force chaired by the Collector, with the SP and CEO as key members, meeting monthly to solve issues faced in solar projects
• The Forest Department must take swift action to regularise forest land titles granted to tribal farmers
• For eco-friendly solar projects, the Environment and Forest Departments should prepare constructive proposals and submit them to the Government for prompt consideration
• Developers should not be required to re-obtain ‘No Objection Certificates’ from Gram Panchayats. All Collectors and CEOs should actively support and resolve developer challenges
• Any political or local hindrances must be addressed firmly, without bias or favour, to protect the integrity of these projects
• Stamp duty exemption should also extend to privately owned land used for solar development
• The new ‘Project Management Portal’ must be effectively used at every project phase to ensure timely and transparent execution
• Minister Atul Save, MoS Meghana Bordikar, and other official dignitaries were present.