Pudukottai:
Observing that climate change has become an urgent concern across the globe, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday stressed on the need to find ways and means to reduce country’s carbon footprint as it would be among the nations to be “most seriously” impacted.
“We need to develop ways and means to reduce our carbon foot-print through technological innovation. In our country, more than 50 per cent of power comes from coal-based generation, which is a major emitter of greenhouse gases,” he said.
Dedicating to the nation BHEL’s two new projects – Rs 1,000 crore high-pressure boiler plant unit-II, a green-field initiative at Tiruchy, and the Rs 300 crore power plant piping unit at Thirumayam, the PM said the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar mission sought to develop 20,000 MW f power generating capacity by the end of 13th five Year plan.
Get into solar tech, PM tells BHEL
Stating that the Jawaharlal Nehru national solar mission’s success has the potential to enhance India’s energy security, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged the public sector undertaking, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), to get into developing solar power technology, apart from solar power generation.
Dedicating to the nation BHEL’s two new projects — Rs 1,000 crore high-pressure boiler plant unit-II, a green-field initiative at Tiruchy, and the Rs 300 crore power plant piping unit at Thirumayam on Friday, Dr Singh said, “The Jawaharlal Nehru national solar mission seeks to develop 20,000 MW of solar power generating capacity by the end of the 13th Five Year Plan. Its success has the potential of enhancing India’s energy security and contributing handsomely to efforts to combat climate change.”
He hoped that BHEL, “bestowed with engineering expertise, manufacturing prowess and a commendable human resource base,” will not only take the lead in solar energy in terms of power generation but also in the development of solar power technology.
He added that it was a difficult commercial decision, but well worth taking in the long-term interest of our country. He lauded finance minister P. Chidambaram saying that he was instrumental in persuading BHEL, a maharatna PSU, to locate their new power plant piping unit at Thirumayam, in Pudukottai district.
According to Dr Singh, the country needs to expand manufacturing substantially, both in absolute terms and in proportion to the gross domestic product. Only this can enable us to generate productive employment for our large and growing labour force, he said.
Citing the government’s plan to add over 100,000 MW including renewables in the 12th Plan, Dr Singh said in the 11th Plan period, the country added around 55,000 MW of generation capacity. “Of this, Bharat Heavy Electricals alone accounted for almost half,” he said.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by DC / August 03rd, 2013