Gujarat has become a leader in India’s green revolution in power, with the state’s power distribution and transmission companies receiving the highest national ratings. While debating budgetary requirements of the Energy and Petrochemicals Department in the Gujarat Assembly, State Energy Minister Kanu Desai pointed to the state’s significant advances in renewable energy and power supply.
Gujarat’s Power Companies Top Ratings
Four of the distribution utilities of Gujarat were graded ‘A+’ by the Union Power Ministry, and Dakshin Gujarat, Madhya Gujarat, and Uttar Gujarat utilities were graded first, second, and third, respectively. Further, JETCO, Gujarat’s state transmission utility, was awarded the Best Transmission Utility Award 2024 by the Central Board of Irrigation and Power (CBIP).
Adding More Renewable Capacity
The nation has taken leaps and bounds in green energy adoption as seen from India’s 500 GW of renewable energy capacity vision by 2030. Gujarat’s carbon-neutral emission vision by 2047, as per India’s Net Zero 2070 vision, was reiterated by Minister Desai.
Gujarat is presently contributing 26% of the total wind power capacity of India with an installed capacity of 12,584 MW and 18% of the solar power generation of India with 18,125 MW. Gujarat’s total renewable energy capacity stands at 32,924 MW and is 15% of the total capacity of India at 2,14,677 MW.
Awards and New Initiatives
For its green power feat, Gujarat was awarded the Highest Achiever State Award at the Global RE-Invest Summit 2024. It has also launched the Akshay Urja Setu Portal, a single-window clearance portal for renewable energy investors.
Gujarat is pushing Mission Green Hydrogen aggressively towards realizing India’s vision of producing 5 million metric tons of green hydrogen by 2030. Under the PM Surya Ghar Yojana, the state is at the forefront of solar rooftop installations in India with over three lakh homes at 40% of India’s total installations.
Under Surya Gujarat Yojana, 5.21 lakh homes have installed solar rooftop systems and generated 2,073 MW of electricity, India’s highest.
Electricity Bill Relief and Infrastructure Development
The government of Gujarat has provided electricity bill relief steps, lowering fuel charges by 50 paise per unit in March 2024, giving relief to 1.5 crore consumers and saving ₹1,057 crore. Another 40 paise per unit cut in December 2024 gave further relief of ₹947 crore.
Per capita electricity consumption in the state has gone up from 953 units in 2002 to 2,479 units in 2024, much higher than India’s all-India average of 1,331 units. The peak power requirement of Gujarat has grown by 329% in the past 22 years from 7,743 MW in 2002 to 25,502 MW in 2024.
Gujarat has released ₹2,175 crore under Kisan Suryodaya Yojana to make 97% of villages daylight power supplied. PM Kusum Yojana is providing relief to farmers from off-grid villages by substituting diesel pumps with solar-powered irrigation pumps.
Infrastructure Upgrade and EV Penetration
₹6,830 crore has been approved by the government for expanding the transmission and distribution network in Gujarat, including 96 new substations and 3,170 circuit transmission lines. Disaster-resilient infrastructure has provided ₹100 crore for underground cabling in the state’s coastal and cyclone-hit districts.
Gujarat is advancing with electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, and ₹50 crore has been sanctioned for a massive expansion of EV charging points in the state’s Viksit Gujarat 2047 initiative.
Natural Gas Leadership
Gujarat is a natural gas supply leader, and GSPC (Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation) is India’s second-largest gas trading company.
Since it has deep interest in green energy and infrastructural development in a strong way, Gujarat has always been pioneering new standards for India’s energy sector.
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