60MW solar power plant in Khargone to begin operation in November

Indore, Sep 26 (PTI) The 60-megawatt solar power plant of the civic body in Madhya Pradesh's Indore is almost ready and will begin operations by November, officials said on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Rs 308-crore solar power plant being built with green bond funding on 220 acres of land at Jalud village in Khargone district in December 2025.

According to officials, the Indore Municipal Corporation raised Rs 244 crore through a public issue of green bonds for the project, making it the country's first renewable energy unit financed in this manner.

Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav during a meeting, said the plant was launched to promote renewable energy and reduce the power expenditure of the Narmada water project and is now almost complete.

"The plant is almost ready. In the final stage, the charging test will begin, and transmission line issues will be resolved. Electricity supply from this plant will commence in November," he said.

Bhargav said that the IMC spends about Rs 25 crore every month on electricity to pump Narmada river water from Jalud to Indore, about 80 km away, for domestic supply.

"The power generated at the Jalud solar plant will cut the civic body's monthly electricity expenditure by around Rs 5 crore," he said.

Bhargav claimed the IMC is the first urban local body in the country to set up a renewable energy plant funded through green bonds. PTI HWP LAL ARU