Uttarakhand: Man turns self-reliant, mints money by selling solar power to govt

Anil Bhatt, a resident of Haldwani's RTO Road Panchayat Ghar area, has gone a step ahead in becoming self-reliant and ended up setting up a 300 kilowatt solar power plant and supplying electricity to the state government.

Haldwani:Anil Bhatt, a resident of Haldwani's RTO Road Panchayat Ghar area, has gone a step ahead after he vowed to become self-reliant and ended up setting up a 300 kilowatt solar power plant and supplying electricity to the state government. Anil used his barren land for the solar plant, under the Chief Minister's Self-Employment Scheme. He received a loan from the bank with a 30% subsidy, thereafter he installed the plant.

Anil said, "I was having land adjacent to the forest but wild animals used to destroy the crops, leaving us with heavy losses. Then, the idea of using Mukhyamantri Swarojgar Yojana struck me. I got a loan from Gramina bank after getting clearance from Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA) and District Industries Center, and also got a 30% subsidy under this scheme."

"Now, with this solar plant every month, I sell electricity worth Rs 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh to the electricity department," added Anil Bhatt

Executive Engineer Electricity Department DD Pangti said, "Now, more people are becoming aware of the scheme and installing similar solar plants. Taking advantage of the scheme, already three youths have established solar plants under Haldwani block. The Electricity Department also helps people become self-reliant by setting up more and more solar power plants," he added.