IndiaCSR News Network
MUMBAI: Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI) the pioneer consumer organization founded in 1966 began its Golden Jubilee Year in style by installing a Solar Power Project of 5 KW Photo-voltaic Power Generating System is setting up its office at Mumbai. The Golden Jubilee Year which started in May 2015 and ends in May 2016 was inaugurated by Girish Bapat, Minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection.
Speaking at the occasion, Bapat said, “I congratulate the determination and efforts of CGSI for following up the cases. As the minster for Consumer Protection, I request CGSI to forward the list of government related cases which CGSI escalates each month, so that I can follow up and get a speedy solution for those cases”. ” Through a regular practice of checking the status of government related cases, I promise to help CGSI in its endeavour” Bapat added.
Earlier, He also inaugurated CGSI’s Solar Power Project of 5 KW Photovoltaic Power Generating System which they set up at their office in Mumbai in pursuit of the National Goal of Clean Power.
With this initiative, CGSI has taken a step forward in supporting the initiative of the Central Government.
“Following the vision statement of India on renewable energy and to achieve the objective of the National Solar Mission to establish India as a global leader in solar energy, CGSI is doing our bit in this direction” said Dr. M.S. Kamath, Hon. Secretary, CGSI. “The beauty of this initiative is that now we can educate the school children and common people regarding the benefits of clean energy in our office itself. Moreover, now on, our electric meter will run reverse and our service provider can now buy electricity from us” he added.
The fact is that the Central Government has set itself the ambitious target of deploying 20,000 MW of grid connected solar power by 2022. This is achievable as the cost of PV panels have come down drastically in the last 3 years and is expected to come down considerably in future making this option viable compared to a fossil fuel based power plant which consume a lot of natural resources, are expensive, create pollution and take many years to set up.
As per present estimates, it is reported that the cost of putting up 20,000 MW solar plants is Rs 1,40,000 crore based on 10 MW plant size. The smaller units will cost considerably more. Assuming, 20 per cent i.e; 4000 MW solar generation comes from small units the cost will be approx Rs 40,000 crore .
The cost of setting up a 500 MW Thermal power plant is Rs 2,200 crore the cost of the same power generated through solar system is reported to be Rs 3,500 crore. The cost of putting up the solar power stations and thermal stations have been bridged considerably in the last 2/3 years and Solar appears to become a viable option in the near future.
Generation of Electric Power through Solar PV panels will be extremely beneficial to those areas where grid power is not available or intermittently available. Even where the Grid power supply is continuous, the solar power will reduce the dependency on Grid power. Further if solar power generated is not utilized then the same can be fed back to the grid and the benefit passed on to the consumer.
CGSI is a body which guides and shows a path to consumers when they have a problem. A number of people visit CGSI office with their grievances. In addition to generating power through solar energy a project of this nature – which will be seen by all visitors will become an example and inspiration for them to go in for similar projects.
CGSI also plans to bring this message to all consumers through the numerous programmes it conducts all over the country in association with colleges clubs and NGOs through this live example which can be seen by one and all.
CGSI is of a firm belief that solar energy is the future for generating power wishes to propagate this message leading by example. Small efforts in this direction will add up to large scale power generation through solar energy.
Dr. Sitaram Dixit, Chairman CGSI, N.M. Rajadhaksha, President, CGSI were amongst other dignitaries graced the function.
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