10,000 MW Solar Energy Decided to Add in National Grid By Govt

Islamabad: PM Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday approved the production of 10,000 MW solar energy projects. The office of the PM through its Twitter account has confirmed the approval of the said solar electricity production. The PM directed the concerned authorities to start the work on solar energy production immediately. The decision will be implemented on an urgent basis in order to provide relief to the masses who have suffered a lot owing to the higher electricity rates mainly because of the hike in the fuel prices. It was also decided that initially the solar energy would be distributed among government buildings, electric and diesel-powered tube wells, and low-unit residential consumers.

Earlier this month, the government initiated a plan to launch solar power projects to the tune of around 14,000MW this year in the wake of the recent hike in electricity prices coupled with the rise in fuel cost, the government is kicking off around 10,000 megawatts of projects under ‘Solar Energy Initiatives’ as a top priority. It is also informed by the sources that the government will ensure the substitution of imported fossil fuels through generation of 6,000MW of solar energy. A project of 2,000MW of solar PV generation on 11kv feeders will be initiated and an additional 1,000MW to solarize government buildings. The government has selected various sites in south Punjab in this regard.

As per the agreements, the land for the solar projects will be provided by the government. Investors will be exempt from all import-related duties and taxes; income tax on profits and gains will also be exempt for the first 10 years from COD. Investors would be exempted from all sort of duties and there would be no taxation on profits and gains for the first ten years of COD. Earlier the Premier had claimed, “The people will be provided with solar systems as an alternate to the costly electricity being generated using the imported fuel. The solarization would not only reduce the import bill of costly fuel but also help generate low-cost and environment-friendly electricity,” the premier added.