PM declares Guj village first with full solar power

Ahmedabad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday declared Gujarat’s Modhera village the country’s first fully solar-powered village as he thanked the people of the state for reposing their faith in him for the last two decades.

The government used to produce electricity and citizens purchased it but now the Centre is making efforts to ensure that people can turn into producers of electricity, the PM said.

“The people are not only getting free electricity, they even make money by selling the extra power generated. Here, the household owners and farmers are generators and users of electricity. Whatever extra power is generated, they sell it to the government. Not only are their power bills reduced to zero, they can even make some extra income by selling power to government,” he said at a rally in poll-bound Gujarat.

Modi arrived in his home state on Sunday for a three-day visit to launch various projects worth more than ₹14,600 crore. The state is set to go to the polls later this year.

Addressing the rally, the PM said the government is providing financial assistance to generate power using rooftop solar panels and hundreds of thousands of solar pumps have been installed across the country for irrigation purposes.

“Whenever people will talk about solar in future, Modhera will be at the top of the minds. It is a place where everything is run using solar power be it agriculture or household utilities,” he said.

According to a statement from the Gujarat government, both central and state governments invested over ₹80 crore in the project, with the state allotting 12 hectares of area for the project. “The people in the village can save 60% to 100% on their electricity bills with this project,” the release said.

Making Modhera the country’s first round-the-clock solar-powered village involved developing a ground-mounted solar power plant and more than 1,300 rooftop solar systems on residential and government buildings, the release said.

Electricity has emerged as a major poll plank ahead of the Gujarat elections, with Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal also promising free electricity of up to 300 units if his party is voted to power.

The elections are crucial for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which aims to retain power in the state, while the Congress hopes for a win after remaining out of power for 27 years in the state.

Out of total 182 seats, the BJP won 99 seats in 2017 Gujarat assembly elections and the Congress won 77. At least 14 sitting MLAs from Congress have switched to BJP since the 2017 elections. While the BJP’s tally has increased to 111 MLAs in the state assembly, the Congress has 63 MLAs at present.

“You neither looked at my caste, nor my political life. You blessed me blindly with all your love and affection, and you saw my work and kept attesting it,” the PM said, adding that Gujarat had emerged as one of the most prominent states in the country.

“For this, I bow before crores of Gujaratis for their patience. It is because of your efforts that the government and public worked together to create a new history. All this has been possible because of your immense faith,” he said.

He said that Mehsana — his home district — in north Gujarat where agriculture suffered due to lack of water for irrigation, witnessed a change after he ensured water supply through schemes like Sujalam Sufalam.

“Gujarat was ranked the last in the country in the agriculture sector, which is why I paid attention to it, because if agriculture progresses, my village will progress, and if the village progresses, Gujarat will never lag behind,” Modi said.

Due to lack of electricity and water, the previous generations failed to make optimum use of their potential, but the present generation has opportunities in which the sky is the limit, he said.

Modi said industry and tourism will lead to development of the region.

“Better infrastructure has attracted different industries and made it an automobile hub. Mehsana has become an energy centre for different industries,” he said.

In the past, we were not able to make cycles in Gujarat, now we are manufacturing cars and days are not far when we will make aeroplanes in the state, the Prime Minister said.

“Today, more people visit the Statue of Unity to pay homage to Sardar Patel as compared to the Statue of Liberty,” he said. “You only need to remain prepared so that tourists don’t return unhappy.”

Talking about the Jyoti Gram Yojana announced when Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat in 2003, the Prime Minister said the scheme, aimed to provide three-phased round-the-clock electricity to all villages of Gujarat was launched at Unjha in Mehsana district.

“We did it in 1,000 days. We connected 18,000 villages with electricity back then. in 2007, I came to Dediyasan for inauguration of a water project. Many did not realize then. Today, the Sujalam Sufalam scheme has become a reality. There was not a single court case and the people willingly gave their land for the project. The water that used to flow to the seas is now used for irrigation in North Gujarat. As a result, farmers there are able to take three crops in a year,” the Prime Minister said.

“We have to make a big jump and not get caught. We have to do many times more than what we have done. If we get electricity and water, it will lead to industrial development, increase farm and milk production,” he said.

According to Modi, new opportunities in different sectors will help create employment opportunities.