Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Asia’s largest solar power plant in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district through video conferencing. While inaugurating the plant he said that it will reduce emission equivalent to approximately 15 lakh tonne of carbon dioxide every year. He also stated that India is among the top 5 nations in the world in terms of production of solar energy and energy is the medium of energy for the 21st century.

The solar project was developed by Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL). The company is a joint venture of Solar Energy Corporation of India and Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited.  It is one of the largest single-site solar power plants in India and stands on 1,590 hectares of land in Gurh tehsil of Rewa district. The project will have three units of 250 MW each.

Speaking at the event, PM Modi said,” Not just for the present, solar energy will be a medium of energy needs of the 21st century because solar power is sure, pure and secure. The idea behind ‘One World, One Sun, One Grid’ is to fulfil the energy needs of many smaller nations on the planet.” He further said “With this solar power project, the people of Madhya Pradesh and the industries set up here will not only get electricity, but even the metro rail in Delhi will get benefits from it.” Apart from Rewa, similar work is underway at Shajapur, Neemuch and Chhatarpur.

PM Modi also informed that the biggest beneficiaries of this solar power project would be the poor, middle-class families, farmers, and tribal community of the state. The project exemplifies India’s commitment to attaining the target of 175 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022.

This is the first renewable energy project to supply energy to an institutional customer outside the state. From the project, the Delhi Metro will get 24% of energy, while the remaining 76% of energy will be supplied to the state DISCOMs of Madhya Pradesh. For its innovation and excellence, the Rewa Solar Power project has received the World Bank Group President’s Award. The project was also included in the PM’s “A Book of Innovation: New Beginnings”.