Solar park to be built on Bundelkhand Expressway, one lakh consumers will get electricity

An area of about 1,700 hectares falling along the Bundelkhand Expressway in Uttar Pradesh will go to a solar park. It will be developed on the BOO—Build, Own and Operate—model under the supervision of Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority.

It was in August last year that UPEIDA had invited Expressions of Interest for pre-feasibility, in which a presentation on it was given by nine organizations. Of these, M/s Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet presented its detailed report to the officials of UPEIDA in February this year, which appeared sometime back before the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by the officials of UPEIDA.

Chief Minister Yogi wants to make it a solar expressway—that by building the entire area as a solar farm. It quoted 1,700 hectares of land availability from UPDA for this solar park. This land is from the main carriageway and service road of the 296 km long Bundelkhand Expressway from Etawah to Chitrakoot. The average width of the land available fenced between the main carriageway and the service road works out to 15-20 meters. A solar park is proposed there.

The whole area receives 5 to 5.5 kWh per square meter per day of solar radiation rate." The cost of developing a solar park here would be over Rs 2,500 crore, the report added.

There shall be a provigion for allotment of land to companies on 25 years lease. The solar park to be developed on both sides of the Bundelkhand Expressway would be capable of producing 450 kilowatts of energy, which shall be able to meet the needs of about 1 lakh consumers. An industrial corridor is also being developed in Banda and Jalaun on the long Bundelkhand Expressway from Etawah to Chitrakoot. Besides taking another gigantic initiative for environmental protection, Chief Minister Yogi ordered that more than 25,000 trees should be planted on the sides of this expressway. Peepal, Pakkad, Banyan, Gular and Neem trees will be planted on its sides. At the same time, the exercise of setting up a new city on the lines of Noida in about 36,000 acres by Bundelkhand Industrial Development Authority is also going at a fast pace, which CM Yogi has set a target to develop by 2028.