NEW DELHI, May 21 � The Centre is likely to clear the proposal for hundred per cent funding of solar power projects in the North East, with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy endorsing the demand of the Power Ministers of the region.
Replying to a supplementary question in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Dr Farooq Abdullah announcing that he wanted to share �one good news�. �I met the Power Ministers of the North East, and the North East gets 90 per cent assistance from the Government of India.�
But all the Power Ministers of the North East represented and said that they would not be able to afford even 10 per cent. �I have put the matter before the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister saying that for the Northeastern States, the assistance from the Government of India should be 100 per cent, so that renewable energy could be given in much greater quantities to those regions.�
�This is because a number of areas in those regions are ones, where transmission lines have not reached, and it would take a long time for transmission lines to come. Therefore, we are, in full measure, trying to help not only the North East but also every other place,� he said.
The Minister was responding to a question by Biren Baishya, who said that power shortage in our country is a matter of concern. In our country too, the Government of India has taken up several ambitious plans but it is not yet known when these plans would be taken up. The main concern for us is that the cost of production for generating solar energy in our country is higher than what it is in other parts of the world.
