Odisha takes green leap with mega solar project

In Odisha’s Dhenkanal district, a 595-acre solar project for ₹25,000 crore is expected to generate 6 GW of electricity and create thousands of jobs.

Odisha’s Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister, Krushna Chandra Patra, held a groundbreaking ceremony for an impending mega solar power project in Neulpoi, Dhenkanal district.

The project, developed by WAREE Energies Limited, will cover 595 acres and cost ₹ 25,000 crore. Furthermore, the facility would have a production capacity of 6 gigawatts of solar energy, considerably increasing the region’s and Odisha’s expanding energy demands. The plant will manufacture solar panels, modules, and related components, and the overall project is estimated to generate approximately 14,000 jobs.

At the event, Krushna Chandra Patra, who heads the Odisha government’s Science and Technology portfolio, emphasised that the initiative will revolutionise Dhenkanal’s development.
“This initiative provides the foundation for Dhenkanal’s progress. Thousands of people from the region will be employed at the plant, he says.   Meanwhile, the plant director stated that there will be approximately 14,000 employees in all. “The jobs will be handed out in phases, and there will be close to 14,000 jobs that this project will generate in the next 5 to 10 years,” he adds.

The ground-breaking ceremony featured traditional traditions in the presence of the factory’s director, Hitesh Mehta, who claimed that the plant would begin producing power within the next nine months. The mega-solar power plant will be the largest of its kind in Odisha, significantly impacting the state’s energy output and transition to green and renewable energy.

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