31-05-23 Daily-Gujarat-GPSC Current Affairs

Gujarat, the state that led the way in solar power adoption in India, has secured the third position in terms of cumulative large-scalesolar installationsin the country.

Notably, Gujarat experienced an impressive 85% increase in such installations during the first quarter of 2023, while solar installations across India declined by 30% during the same period, according to the India Solar Market Update 2023 report by Mercom India.

Between January and March 2023, Gujarat witnessed 261 megawatts (MW) of solar installations, compared to 141MW in the previous quarter. Since Q1 2022, Gujarat has consistently ranked as the third-highest state for large-scale solar capacity addition, with an impressive quarter-over-quarter increase of nearly 85% in Q1 2023.

Furthermore, experts credit Gujarat’s rise in installation rates to its favourable policies and aggressive push for RENEWABLE ENERGY adoption.

Pan-India solar installations declined due to commissioning deadlines for several large-scale projects being postponed to the following year. Out of the total 1.9GW of solar installations in India during the January to March 2023 quarter, Gujarat accounted for 19% of new installations, trailing behind Karnataka (21%) andRajasthan(42%).