AP to acquire farmers' land for green energy projects

Approval was given for establishment of pumped hydro storage projects by Adani Green Energy Ltd and other project proponents. There is a proposal to increase green energy production of 43,000 MW in the next few years

Vijayawada: Under a new policy aimed at encouraging renewable energy generation, the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has cleared a proposal to acquire waste land from farmers on lease on payment of annuity of Rs 30,000 per acre with a provision for increase by five per cent in two years.

Briefing the media at Tadepalli after a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at the Secretariat at Velagapudi on Tuesday, Information Minister Ch Venugopala Krishna said approval was given for establishment of pumped hydro storage projects by Adani Green Energy Ltd and other project proponents. There is a proposal to increase green energy production of 43,000 MW in the next few years.

The investment proposals discussed at the State Investment Promotion Board on Monday including investment of Rs 6,330 crore by Adani Green Energy Ltd on generation of 1600 MW and establishment of a greenfield three million tonne steel plant at Kadapa at a cost of Rs 8,800 crore by JSW Steel Limited were approved by the Cabinet.

As per the promise made after swearing-in, the Chief Minister also decided to increase the monthly pension being given to the poor people from Rs 2500 to Rs 2750 per month from January 1, 2023. This will entail an additional expenditure of Rs 130.44 crore on the State Exchequer.

Venugoapala Krishna said with the sanction of additional pensions in the past three and half years, the amount towards pension disbursal has gone up to Rs 1720 crore from a meagre Rs 400 crore being paid by the erstwhile Telugu Desam Party government.

Being committed to become a model State for implementation of welfare measures, the Cabinet gave its approval to the sanction of 2.63 lakh new pensions from eligible persons found during social audit by the secretariats. They will be given Rs 403 crore towards various schemes under Navaratnalu for June to December such as house-sites, ration, crop insurance and other benefits. He said the recent cyclone caused minimal damage due to timely release of water and procurement of paddy as per the orders issued by the Chief Minister.

Coinciding with the birthday of Jagan Mohan Reddy, the initiative to distribute tablets with e-content prepared by Byju's will be distributed to the eighth standard students. The teachers will also get tablets. The government will be spending Rs 650 crore to distribute pre-loaded content to students and tablets to 50,000 teachers.

The Cabinet also approved the establishment of Bapatla and Palnadu Urban Development Authorities and fill vacant posts in all hospitals and some engineering posts in Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) and Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA).