Asia's largest solar park functional in Gujarat

Ahmedabad, April 19 (IANS) A 600 MW solar power park, touted as Asia's first and largest, was Thursday dedicated to the nation by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the state's Patan district, in a boost to India's efforts towards low carbon growth.

The solar power park with a power generation capacity of 600 MW, covering approximately 3,000 acres of wasteland bordering the Rann of Kutch, will generate two-thirds of India's total 900 MW of solar power production.

'Gujarat dedicates 600 MW of solar power to the nation today (Thursday). We are celebrating the launch of Agni V & dedication of 600 MW solar power park in Gujarat,' Modi said on micro blogging site twitter.

According to the Gujarat government, the solar project will lead to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions to the tune of eight million tonnes and save 900,000 tonnes of natural gas annually.

Under its Solar Power Policy, the state government had signed memorandums of understanding for generation of 968.5 MW of solar power by the end of this year.

Other projects will be developed at Anand, Banaskantha, Jamnangar, Junagadh, Kutch, Porbandar, Rajkot, Surat and Surendranagar.

The Gujarat Solar Park is an innovative concept of the state government to promote solar installations in which it allocated developed land to the project developers with the entire infrastructure, including power evacuation, roads and water for commissioning of the power project put on fast track.

Gujarat will also host the 'India Solar Summit 2012: Investment and Technology Expo' in Gandhinagar April 20 and 21.