Mumbai-Nagpur expressway to soon become India’s first solar-powered highway
Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway (Photo: Jagran)
Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is planning to make Mumbai-Nagpur Super expressway as the country’s first solar-powered highway.
According to a report in the Asian Age, installation of solar panels along the highway stretch will not only generate solar power for the whole Expressway but also for the neighbouring villages which are located alongside the proposed E-way. Various international institutions have also proposed to install the solar panels on the expressway.
The MSRDC has submitted a pre-feasibility report to the Union Ministry of environment and climate change and has proposed the use of non-conventional energy sources like wind and solar panels as infrastructure along the alignment of the Mumbai-Nagpur expressway.
The report has quoted a MSRDC top official as saying, “We have asked the private institutes to prepare a presentation on the proposal of solar panels. The presentation will give us a rough idea as to how much megawatts of solar power can be generated and also as to where the solar panels will be installed. There are many options like on the median (middle) of the alignment or on the sideways or on the land surface.”
However the project is still at the planning stage. As far as time for the project implementation is concerned, no official announcement has been made yet.
