New Delhi. The Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech in Parliament today announced that to address the problem of energy deficiency in the Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir which faces extremely hard climate, the government proposes to set up solar, small hydro and micro power projects at a cost of Rs.500 crore.

Ladakh Region with its extreme environment faces energy vulnerability resulting in population of the area facing energy adversities enormously throughout the year, particularly in the winter months. While urban areas, and all defence establishments, use diesel and kerosene extensively, populations in the remote areas face problems for cooking and heating. Diesel, Kerosene and firewood have to be transported from long distance and at huge cost. The issue is not only of energy supply but also of health and livelihoods.

Considering that the region has good potential of solar and hydro resources, much of it yet to be realized and can be effectively used for minimizing use of diesel, kerosene and fuel wood, detailed studies were undertaken to assess the potential and identify suitable locations where small hydro projects can be set up and solar energy systems installed. Consultations were also held with the local people, NGOs and renewable energy agencies working in the region to draw up a plan and implementation strategies.

Taking feedback from all the stakeholders, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has prepared a Plan for large scale use of Renewable Energy with a package of Rs 520 crore. The plan envisages of 30 small / micro hydel projects aggregating to 23.5 MW capacity, setting up of about 300 SPV power plants of 5-100 KW capacity, 2000 SPV home lighting systems and about 40,000 solar thermal systems such as water heating, solar cookers, solar passive buildings, solar green house etc. The greenhouses proposed to be set up in the region would help in increasing the production of green vegetables in winters for the region. The project will be implemented in three years.

A major initiative to minimize use of diesel, kerosene and firewood in Ladakh region is being planned. This environmentally fragile region is well endowed with natural resources and can meet its power and fuel requirement through small hydro projects and decentralized solar PV and Thermal applications. The Plan also envisages increase in production of green vegetables in winter there on green houses. The outcome would be a saving of about 200 lakh liters of diesel annually.