Amaravati: Nod for mega solar power project

Amaravati: The state government approved the proposal to set up a 10,000 megawatt (MW) solar power project to have an uninterrupted nine-hour power supply to farmers during the daytime besides setting up of an Integrated Renewable Energy Project (IREP).

Briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting here on Thursday, information and public relations minister Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani) said that as part of the IREP, 550 MW of wind power, 1,200 MW hydel power and 1,000 MW of solar power will be generated. Under the Green Energy Development Charge, the state government will be earning a revenue of Rs 32 crore. Earlier during the TDP rule, the government paid only Rs 2.5 lakh per acre for the project, but Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has decided to award Rs 5 lakh per acre.

The state Cabinet has cleared the decks for Ramayapatnam port works and the DPR was considered. It will be completed in five phases with an estimated budget of Rs 3,736 crore in the first phase of works and to seek funds from the Centre. For Bhogapuram Airport, the built area was reduced from the proposed 2,700 acre to 2,200 acre and the remaining 500 acre will be handed over to the state government as commercial space.

As for irrigation projects, the Veligonda project has earmarked Rs 1,411.56 crore for land acquisition and compensation, while Rs 522.85 crore for R&R package of Gandikota reservoir. The Cabinet also gave the green signal for the establishment of AP State Directorate of Revenue Intelligence to monitor tax evasions by granting 55 posts. The Outsourcing Corporation would be strengthened to avoid middlemen in recruitments.

In addition, the Cabinet also gave a nod for filling the vacant posts in nursing colleges across the state, reinstating Sannidhi Golla in TTD and setting up of a tribal engineering college under JNTU-K in Kurupam of Vizianagaram with an estimated budget of Rs 153 crore.

The government also approved for providing 385 acre land to the Greyhounds training campus in Visakhapatnam, Nani said.