In a bid to speed up the establishment of solar power projects by private developers,the state government is planning to do away with the requirement of seeking permission for land use change by willing developers. Since such power plants require large areas of land,the government is planning to exempt them from land ceiling so that they can acquire more than 12.5 acres for projects without permission. The move came after some of the private players demanded exemptions,citing examples of other states where the governments either give the private developers land on lease as an incentive or exempt them from the requirement of taking permission for land use change. Acquisition of land is one of the most cumbersome processes in the entire process of establishing a solar power plant owing to the requirement of a larger area (at least five acres for establishing 1mw of solar power plant). While the government has decided to continue with the clause,under which land has to be acquired by the developer,the demand for exemption from land use change and land ceiling is being considered, a government officer said. He added that the state government is studying similar exemptions given by states like Punjab and Rajasthan to remove the procedural delays in establishing the 230mw of solar power plants for which the state has already signed MOUs and given letters of intents to seven companies. A high-level meeting under the chairmanship of chief secretary Jawed Usmani is likely to be called in the coming week to give a final shape to these two exemptions,which would also require amendment to the existing Solar Power Policy of the state government.
