Solar Park Mission fails to take off in J&K even 15 months after announcement

Oct 26, 2025 Solar Park Mission fails to take off in J&K even 15 months after announcement Jobs & News Desk

Over 15 months after the announcement regarding development of Solar Parks in Jammu and Kashmir, not even one kanal of land has been identified in any district of the Union Territory thereby creating hurdle in the path of becoming self-sufficient in renewable energy.

While presenting Budget 2024-25 of Jammu and Kashmir in the Parliament on July 23, 2024, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that land bank will be identified for development of Solar Parks in the Union Territory, which is having huge potential to contribute to the renewable energy goals.

Following this announcement, the Jammu and Kashmir Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA) formally approached the administration in all the 20 districts of the Union Territory with the request to identify land for establishment of Solar Parks.

“However, even after the lapse of more than 15 months the communications of JAKEDA to the administration in the districts have gone largely unanswered and not even one kanal of land has been identified and recommended for the establishment of Solar Park in any district”, official sources told EXCELSIOR.

The 2024 announcement was meant to fast-track the creation of Solar Parks to harness the region’s vast renewable energy potential.

The Revenue and Forest Departments, which control most of the Government and community land, were expected to play a leading role. Yet, despite several reminders, there has been no tangible progress, sources further said.

“We don’t have a single piece of land formally identified for solar development”, said an officer of the JAKEDA, on the condition of anonymity, adding district administrations were supposed to survey and propose suitable sites, but no one has responded till date”.

According to the sources, thousands of kanals of State and Kahcharai land continues to be under illegal occupation across the Union Territory and if even a fraction of that land is cleared and repurposed, J&K can establish Solar Parks without new land acquisitions or displacements.

“Retrieving encroached land for clean energy projects would serve dual purposes—asserting Government’s ownership while turning unproductive terrain into a revenue-generating asset aligned with the Union Territory’s renewable goals”, sources further said while disclosing that J&K enjoys high solar radiation, especially in districts like Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Udhampur and Reasi which makes them ideal for solar projects.

With proper planning, the UT can generate hundreds of megawatts of clean power, reduce its dependence on costly imports and contribute significantly to India’s renewable energy targets. Yet, the delay in identifying land has frozen all such prospects, sources said, adding the failure to act swiftly has far-reaching implications—economic loss, rising costs and employment and industry setback.

“The delays mean missed investment opportunities and loss of revenue from potential power generation. Moreover, each stalled project means delayed job creation and slower growth of a local solar equipment ecosystem”, they said, adding continued reliance on non-renewable sources undermines J&K’s contribution to India’s climate goals.

Sources stressed that the Government must form a high-level inter-departmental task force to identify suitable land within a fixed timeframe and also reclaim encroached public land for renewable infrastructure. “Solar development doesn’t require fertile farmland or forested slopes-barren and encroached lands are ideal,” said a senior retired bureaucrat familiar with renewable planning, adding “the UT Government must act decisively to reclaim its land and channel it into projects that serve long-term public good”.

He further said, “the July 2024 announcement had raised hopes that Jammu & Kashmir would finally leverage its natural solar advantage to move toward energy independence. Instead, the lack of follow-up coupled with administrative inertia and failure to act against encroachments has left the plan languishing on paper”.

“Unless district administrations, the Revenue Department and JAKEDA work in unison to identify, clear and dedicate land for solar use, the Union Territory risks letting its renewable energy promise slip away”, sources said.