HYDERABAD: The Union government has dashed the plans of the Telangana government to set up solar power plants on government lands, to be managed by the Self-Help Groups, under the PM-KUSUM scheme.
New and Renewable Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday revealed that the state government has requested the Centre to allow it to use government land and include self-help groups under the Component A of PM-KUSUM.
He said that the Centre has advised the state government not to use government land for this scheme. “If the state government adheres to the guidelines, if it makes progress and if it signs PPAs, then the Union government is ready to support it,” he said.
In an oral reply to a question raised by BJP MP M Raghunandan Rao in Lok Sabha, the Union minister said: “PM-KUSUM means PM Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthan Mahabhiyan, a scheme that provides subsidy to farmers.”
Meanwhile, the Union minister accused the state government of not implementing the central schemes.
‘No plan to revive ITIR policy’
The Union government has indicated that there are no plans for reviving the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) policy. In a written reply to a question raised by Congress MP Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitin Prasada stated that ITIR policy was discontinued in 2017 and all activities under the policy were closed.
States free to set up emiconductor units: Union government
Union Electronics and Information Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday made it clear that India Semiconductor Mission, which supports setting up of semiconductor manufacturing units in the country, does not have any provision for setting up of Semiconductor Missions in any state.
The Telangana government has been demanding that the Centre sanction a Semiconductor Mission to the state. in a written reply to a question posed by the Congress MP Gaddam Vamsi Krishna, in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Vaishnaw, however, said that states were free to set up their own semiconductor mission.