Pankaj Sharma
In the recent event at Paris on climate change by United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreed for the consensus and 121 countries formed International Solar Alliance (ISA)at conference of parties (COP-21st)spearheaded by India. The headquarter of ISA is decided by the sun shine countries to be in India at GwalphariGurgaon-where the foundation stone for National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) was laid by Prime Minister Narendera Modi and President of France Francis Hollande on 25 ,January 2016. Many countries are already using renewal energy for their domestic and industrial needs. India has also taken a plunge to leave the dependency on coal and engaged in many initiatives to boost the renewal energy sector.The initiative taken by the recent govt. for renewal energy is really appreciative.
Way to Solar energy
Due to the rise in the solar panels installation at residential and commercial projects, declined solar equipment prices and increased competition, the cost of the solar energy was lowered down from Rs.10-Rs.12 per unit to Rs. 4.34 per unit in 2016.From time to time government has taken various steps right from the JNNSM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission) to National Solar Mission(NSM).NSM is the mission to produce 100 GW till 2022 from 20GW now and 60% is from solar parks and remaining 40% isgrid connected roof tops.
Solar Energy Corporation of India(SECI) is another initiative under Ministry of New Renewal Energy(MNRE) for implementation of the grid connected Roof Top pilot projects and to watch the other solar activities. Since, India is tropical country which has immense potential for solar energy and it also reduce our dependency on other country for coal import and provide clean energy. Living in this era, we not only need energy but clean energy.
Right to electricity to all
Prime Minister of India announced that by 2019, electricity should be provided to all house holders. Today only 55.3% of rural holders and 67% of Urban House holder have access to power.30 Crore Indian do not have access to grid power and 30 Crore have only unreliable grid power. Government has also come with idea of Ultra Mega Solar Project(UMSP) on the lines of Ultra Mega Power Project(UMPP).Though the mile stone has been forecasted but the path to achieve this target is really a challenging job.To achieve this target we need support from all the citizens of India.But there is dire need to educate the people at grass root level and to aware them with the long-term fruits of the solar energy.
Area of opportunity for J&K
Jammu & Kashmir is the energy deficit state; stable electricity even in the major cities of the state is a dream.Though many hydro projects like Baglihar and Salal to name a few are contributing a lot but still many things are in the “To Do List”.
Unemployment is one of the major challenging front of the government, although there many initiatives like Udaan and other steps have been taken by the State and Union government. Solar energy not only fills the energy deficit but provide the employment to the youth. For that we have to provide the skills. Skilled and Semi -skilled labour is required to install solar panels. Why can’t our state export the human capital to all the states as well as across the world. European countries today face a massive labour crunch. It is also a great opportunity before us and it also depends on us ,how we can encash this opportunity. India is the world’s youngest nation and on the flip side J&K has also immense young population. So, to channelize this demographic dividend is a daunting task in before of the government.
Employment Generation Avenue
Solar Energy is the real solution to all problems, at one hand it will give electricity, on the other side, it will provide maximum employment. A State Institute should be setup on the similar lines as National Institute of Solar Energy. That institute will provide short term course on handling Photo Voltaic (PV) cells to panel installation. The institute must have proper expertise to produce solar engineers. There are many institute in India to train the manpower for solar related works and one of them is Bare Foot college -Tilonia Village in Rajasthan.
Geographically, J&K has hilly terrain; population density in these areas is very low, so solar energy should be optimized in this very terrain. Prime Minister’s one of the flagship programs “MAKE IN INDIA” is well rhetoric to promote the manufacturing industries. There are so many products which can be manufactured through which solar energy is generated.
Solar Products:
In villages stable electricity is not available which directly affects the education of the children. Usually kerosene lanterns are used in the villages which are really harmful and risky to use. Also, we import kerosene oil for our domestic needs so importing cost is also a burden on us.Recenlty,Ms. NidhiModi Executive director of RAL Consumer Products, the largest off-grid company in India reiterated that the government is spending Rs.30, 000 Crore a year on importing kerosene and which is completely a wastage of foreign exchange .The average rural household use 18 liters a month, 12 of which are used only for lighting. The rest are used for cooking .They spend Rs. 150 a month only on kerosene”, said Ms. Modi.So, kerosene Lantern should be replace by Solar lantern which producesrisk free clean light .This also increase the concentration of the students and rural literacy rate can be raised. So, in-house manufacturing of the solar lanterns is one of the products.
(The solar lights are also one of the fast and easy way to enlighten the far-flung villages). These lights are very compatible and easy to install. Our highway in Jammu passes through a mountain terrain and it’s difficult to connect the whole highway with power grid. So, solar lightning is the best solution for road lightings and accident rate can be declined which is too high in India.
Solar Pumps
The major consumption of electricity in the agriculture is consumed by electric pumps. Electric pumps accounts 90% of the electricity used in the agriculture. Solar Pumps is the need of the hour.Solar pumps are not only helpful for irrigation purpose but it can also replace the electric motors in the houses for drinking and domestic purposes and it must be used in all the government tube wells.
Solar Tractors
Tractor has almost replaced the bullocks across the whole country expect few places. Due to the mechanized agriculture equipment, farmers today are more dependent on technology. Today majority of the tractors in the country are running on diesel.As we are very familiar with the fact that ,we are the major importer of the diesel and petroleum products and we are paying a heavy cost for this.So, Solar tractors are the best option,Solar tractors not only save the cost to farmers but also lower down the agriculture cost.
Opportunities for Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship is the buzz word in these days. Start Up India and Stand Up India is another platform for the young generation created by the government. One thing must be understood that every citizen of the J&K/ INDIA will not get a government job. So, private sector comes into the picture which will generate the jobs and boost the economy. It is said by the experts that the major contributor in the American economy are small businesses. Today there are many examples of the leading firms across the country by the first generation businessmen -flipkart, snap deal, ola etc. were the fantastic examples.
Jammu Kashmir Entrepreneur Development Institute (JKEDI) is separate entity to promote entrepreneurship for the J&K youth. They mentor all the necessary traits to start a new venture including financial support through a formal training.
But to promote solar sector, we need a proper modus operandi and expertise to guide and encourage the young people to join this national project. In J&K, government is the major employer and private sector jobs are not so much available as compared to other cities of the country. The solar sector is game changer avenue to generate private sector job through entrepreneurship.
As mentioned there are varieties of solar products like solar lanterns ,Solar Pumps, Solar Cookers and Solar tractors to name a few. Today, most of the products are imported from china, why can’t, we can produce it in J&K. Why can’t Solar Panels, batteries and other required products can be manufactured in J&K?
Concluding Remarks
As we are well acquainted that majority of population in India resides in the rural area and it’s a right time to tap this opportunity. Jammu and Kashmir is one of the states having immense potential for the solar energy and government is also providing huge subsidy on installing solar panels on your roof. But we have not seen any progress yet. This is the right time when government should take bold steps to aware the people about solar energy and its long term benefits. To achieve success in allthe mentioned areas in this piece of writing is not so easy but there is dire need that State stakeholders should take some measurable action to become abundant Energy State.
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