Maharashtra govt to develop six solar cities targeting solar capacity of 7,500 MW

• Maharashtra Government ,already have a installed capacity of 6,700 MW at present and now the Government has set its sights on enhancing the capacity for renewable energy to 21,100 MW by planning to develop six solar cities targeting solar capacity of 7,500 MW.
• 5,000 MW will be added to this project through wind and rest from other industrial and domestic waste sources.
• A total of 55 solar cities across the country were targeted to enhance the solar capacity and among these cities 6 cities is from Maharashtra they are NAGPUR,THANE,AURANGABAD,KALYAN-DOMBIVLI,SHIRDI and NANDED.
• These cities were selected based on the population and other criteria.

BOP AND PPP:

• Development of 7,500 solar capacities will be conducted in two parts, Build Operate Transfer (BOT) will develop 5,000 MW under private players through competitive bidding.
• Remaining 2,500 MW on Public Private Participation (PPP) basis or will be developed on Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) basis by the state undertakings MahaGenco or by MahaVitaran with private developers.

Main Criteria:

The development of these cities would not need approvals from the state pollution control board and land will be procured through deemed non agricultural approvals.