Lok Sabha Question No. 3031 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-04
Subject: Establishment of Solar Parks
Ministry: NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
Asked by: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3031

ANSWERED ON 04.08.2022

## ESTABLISHMENT OF SOLAR PARKS

## 3031. COL. RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE

Will the Minister of NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of solar panel parks which have been established across the country along with their generation capacity, State-wise including districts of Rajasthan;
- (b) whether the Government has implemented any environmental restrictions on industries operating in establishment of solar panel parks and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has conducted any scientific studies to look into ways to reuse and recycle solar panels and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has prepared any environmental friendly means to deal with the other forms of waste generated during production of solar energy and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (e) whether the Government maintains records of unused or wasted solar panels in the country during the last three years and the current year and if so, the details thereof, Statewise?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND POWER

## (SHRI R.K. SINGH)

- (a) Government has sanctioned 61 Solar Parks of 40,000 MW capacity in the country including Rajasthan under the scheme for 'Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects'. State-wise details of Solar Parks with their sanctioned capacity and commissioned capacity  are  given  at Annexure-I .  Government  has  approved  10  solar  parks  of  7036  MW capacity in the State of Rajasthan. The details are given at Annexure-II.
- (b)  As  per  OM  dated  07 th July  2017  of  the  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate Change, Solar Power Parks are exempted from Environment Impact Assessment.

(c) to (e) A Committee was constituted by NITI Aayog under the Chairmanship of Secretary, MNRE with the mandate inter-alia to propose an action plan to evolve a circular economy in solar panels through reuse/recycling of the waste generated. The draft report of the Committee has been submitted to NITI Aayog.

Solar Panels generally have a lifetime of 25 years. Considering that most of the solar power capacity in the country has been installed from 2010 onwards, significant quantum of solar panel waste is not expected to be generated until the year 2035.

However, some panels may also fail before end of life due to various reasons and are replaced with new ones. Data for waste generated as a result of such failures is not maintained separately.

*****

## ANNEXURE-I REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3031 FOR 04.08.2022

## STATE-WISE DETAILS OF SOLAR PARKS SANCTIONED AND CAPACITY COMMISSIONED THEREIN

(As on 30-06-2022)

| S. No.   | State                 |   Number of Solar Parks Sanctioned |   Sanctioned capacity (MW) |   Commissioned capacity (MW) |
|----------|-----------------------|------------------------------------|----------------------------|------------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh        |                                  5 |                       4200 |                         3050 |
| 2        | Chhattisgarh          |                                  1 |                        100 |                            0 |
| 3        | Gujarat               |                                  7 |                      12025 |                          785 |
| 4        | Himachal Pradesh      |                                  2 |                       1280 |                            0 |
| 5        | Jharkhand             |                                  5 |                        180 |                            0 |
| 6        | Jharkhand/West Bengal |                                  2 |                        989 |                            0 |
| 7        | Karnataka             |                                  2 |                       2500 |                         2000 |
| 8        | Kerala                |                                  2 |                        155 |                          100 |
| 9        | Madhya Pradesh        |                                  9 |                       6080 |                         1000 |
| 10       | Maharashtra           |                                  3 |                       1250 |                            0 |
| 11       | Manipur               |                                  1 |                         20 |                            0 |
| 12       | Meghalaya             |                                  1 |                         20 |                            0 |
| 13       | Mizoram               |                                  1 |                         20 |                            0 |
| 14       | Odisha                |                                  3 |                        340 |                            0 |
| 15       | Rajasthan             |                                 10 |                       7036 |                         2901 |
| 16       | Uttar Pradesh         |                                  7 |                       3805 |                          165 |
| Total    | Total                 |                                 61 |                      40000 |                        10001 |

## ANNEXURE-II REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3031 FOR 04.08.2022

## DETAILS OF SOLAR PARKS SANCTIONED IN THE STATE OF RAJASTHAN

| Sl. No.   | Name of Solar Park            |   Sanctioned capacity (MW) |   Commissioned capacity (MW) |
|-----------|-------------------------------|----------------------------|------------------------------|
| 1.        | Bhadla Phase-II Solar Park    |                        680 |                          680 |
| 2.        | Bhadla III Solar Park         |                       1000 |                         1000 |
| 3.        | Bhadla IV Solar Park          |                        500 |                          500 |
| 4.        | Phalodi-Pokaran Solar Park    |                        750 |                          300 |
| 5.        | Fatehgarh Phase 1B Solar Park |                        421 |                          421 |
| 6.        | Nokh Solar Park               |                        925 |                            0 |
| 7.        | Pugal Solar Park Ph-I         |                       1000 |                            0 |
| 8.        | Pugal Solar Park Ph-II        |                        450 |                            0 |
| 9.        | RVUN Solar Park Ph-I          |                        810 |                            0 |
| 10.       | RVUN Solar Park Ph-II         |                        500 |                            0 |
|           | TOTAL                         |                       7036 |                         2901 |