Ahmednagar (Maharashtra): The Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan, one of the revered shrines in India, is heading towards embracing renewable energy to become self-sufficient in power generation. The initiative will likely save the administration at least Rs. 20 crore every year for the trust.
The management of the pilgrimage site spends this amount annually on electricity bills to power various facilities and residential buildings. However, trust has planned to generate eight megawatts of electricity through solar and wind energy, reducing dependence on external power sources.
Second Richest Shrine In Country
Sai Baba is a most revered saint, and his shrines are famous places of worship for many devotees in the country and abroad. The Sai Temple in Shirdi is also known as the second-richest temple in the country.
Saibaba Sansthan includes various buildings like the Sai Temple, temple premises, various devotees' residences, hospitals, and prasadalayas. The electricity required in all these places is taken from Mahadistributan. However, a few years ago, two windmill projects were set up at Supa in Parner taluka through Saibaba Sansthan. After that, the building of Prasadalaya was completely solar-based, with solar panels installed at the Sai Ashram Bhakta Niwas.
Saibaba Sansthan To Be Fully Self-Sufficient
Officials said the trust needs eight megawatts of electricity to run systems in the shrine and around. Currently, four megawatts are generated from windmills and rooftop solar. Whereas the electricity required at other places is taken from the Mahadistribution, for which Saibaba Sansthan incurs an expenditure of around 20 crores per year.
However, in a recent meeting of Mahavitran and Saibaba Sansthan, it was decided to make the trust self-sufficient completely by increasing the capacity of the windmill and installing solar units on the buildings of the devotees and the hospital to generate electricity.
