No step initiated to identify land bank for development of solar parks in J&K

Revenue Deptt showing no interest in requests of S&T Deptt
*Announcement made last year yet to become reality

Mohinder Verma

JAMMU, Apr 20: Even several months after the much-hyped announcement, no step has been initiated to identify land bank for the development of solar parks in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which otherwise has huge potential to contribute to renewable energy goals.

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On July 23, 2024, it was announced that land bank to be identified for the development of solar parks in Jammu and Kashmir to harness solar energy on a large scale to generate electricity and contribute to renewable energy goals.
Following this announcement, the Science and Technology Department approached the Revenue Department with the request to identify and provide suitable land in different parts of the Union Territory so that decision could be translated into reality as early as possible, official sources told EXCELSIOR.
“However, the requests of the Science and Technology Department have not been taken seriously by those at the helm of affairs in the Revenue Department till date as a result of which not even single patch of land could be identified for establishment of solar park”, they informed, adding “since majority of the land in the Union Territory is under the control of Revenue and Forest Departments land bank cannot be identified without their cooperation and support”.
Disclosing that J&K has huge potential for establishment of solar parks, sources said, “these parks can be of immense benefits for the Government. These parks will produce electricity from a sustainable and clean source of energy, contribute to energy security and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change”.
Further, large-scale solar parks can achieve economies of scale, potentially reducing the cost of electricity generation compared to smaller and dispersed solar projects. Moreover, the development, construction and maintenance of solar parks can create jobs in the renewable energy sector.
In the absence of necessary cooperation from the Revenue Department, the Science and Technology Department, as per the sources, has decided to examine the data of Revenue and Forest land provided on the PM Gati Shakti portal to identify suitable land patches for the development of solar parks.
Thereafter, Science and Technology Department will move the proposals particularly before the Revenue Department for allotment of land for development of solar parks, they informed, adding “in this way, some efforts will be made to translate announcement regarding solar parks into reality. However, keeping in view this alternate lengthy exercise no time-frame can be specified for the same”.
As identification of land bank for the development of solar parks was the announcement of the Government and not of the Science and Technology Department, there should have been necessary cooperation from the Revenue Department, they stressed, adding “it is really a matter of serious concern that while huge chunk of Revenue land remains under encroachment, the fate of several projects hang in balance for want of suitable land”.
Meanwhile, machinery is yet to be procured for the bio-technology park established at Kathua by utilizing Government of India funding through IIIM-CSIR, sources said, adding “physical stricture has been completed and park will become operational only when machinery is installed by the agency engaged by IIIM-CSIR”.
It is pertinent to mention here that on July 23, 2024, it was announced that bio-technology park at Kathua will become operational within next few months. However, because of process involved in procurement of machinery operationalization will take few more months.
The bio-technology park would act as hub for incubation of new ideas and provide robust platform to support the agri-entrepreneurs, startups, progressive farmers, scientists, scholars and students not only from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh but also from nearby States of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

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