Soon, farmers of Punjab to generate solar energy in agricultural fields; income to get doubled
Chandigarh, July 17: The Punjab government on Monday gave the go-ahead to launch a pilot project for Solar Energy generation on agricultural land on a rental basis, besides allowing farmers to undertake high-value cultivation of fruits and vegetables.
Notably, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh gave his nod to launch a pilot project for Solar Energy generation on agricultural land on a rental basis to bring a boost in the income of farmers. Underscoring the need to motivate farmers to move towards crop diversification, the Chief Minister hoped that the same project could be replicated in the Kandi area and south-west Punjab, especially in the citrus orchards and vegetable-growing belt in the vicinity of Ludhiana and Malerkotla.
The Chief Minister also approved a green building pilot project, as suggested by CII, and expressed his willingness to implement the concept in the upcoming Government Medical College and Hospital at Mohali.
He further asked the authorities to work out modalities in consultation with Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) to evolve the necessary guidelines for making the concept mandatory for new government buildings to cut down substantially on the carbon footprint and also to save on energy.
The Chief Minister, on this occasion, also lauded CII’s initiative in setting up a chain of Model Career Centres across India to impart career counseling, assessment, soft skills training to youth seeking jobs. He sought the industrial body's help in upscaling his state's youth to enable them to be gainfully employed not just in the country but also abroad.
Evincing keen interest in developing the logistics sector in the state, the Chief Minister sought CII's support for setting up a centre of excellence in Logistics to improve competitiveness in the sector and generate employment.
“Better logistics would also give an impetus to supplementing farmers' income, through improved transportation and storage of perishable commodities like fruits, vegetables, milk & dairy products, fisheries and eggs,” he added.