Consider the following statements
- Gujarat has the largest solar park in India.
- Kerala has a fully solar powered International Airport.
- Goa has the largest floating solar photovoltaic project in India.
Which of the statements given below is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3
(d) 3 only
Explanation
The correct answer is: b) 2 only
- Statement 1 is incorrect. Rajasthan has the largest solar park in India, not Gujarat. The Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan with a capacity of 2245 MW is the world’s largest solar park.
- Statement 2 is correct. Cochin International Airport in Kerala is the first airport in the world to be fully powered by solar energy. It has a 12 MWp solar power plant.
- Statement 3 is incorrect. The largest floating solar photovoltaic project in India is located in Andhra Pradesh, not Goa. NTPC has a 100 MW floating solar plant at Ramagundam in Telangana.
So out of the three statements, only statement 2 is correct.
Learn more
- India has an ambitious target of achieving 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, of which 100 GW is to come from solar energy.
- As of March 2022, the installed solar energy capacity in India stood at 49.59 GW.
- Top states in terms of installed solar capacity are Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Gujarat.
- India has some of the world’s largest solar parks like the Bhadla Solar Park (Rajasthan) and Pavagada Solar Park (Karnataka).
- Floating solar plants are gaining popularity in India and states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have commissioned such projects.
- Cochin International Airport has set a benchmark by becoming the first fully solar powered airport in the world.
- The government provides financial assistance and incentives for setting up solar parks and plants under schemes like Solar Park scheme, solar rooftop scheme etc.