Baramati solar power plant starts producing electricity in record time

On November 26, when the state was mourning the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attack in Mumbai, a 50 Megawatt solar power plant was added to the Maharashtra's grid by Mahagenco, the state-run power generation company which had commissioned the plant only on July 13, 2014.

"The plant which is based in Shirsuphal, Baramati (Pune) is the first solar plant India has established under public-private-partnership. Moreover, it was set up in record 4.5 months," said a top official of the Mahagenco. In the phase 1 of the two-phase project the plant will generate 83 million units of power every year.

The state already has a 125 MW solar power plant in Dhule and 5 MW at Chandrapur. The addition of the Baramati plant has taken the total solar power production in the state to 180 MW, which is 1.58% of the total current power generation in the state (11,367 MW).