NEW DELHI: State-owned Energy Efficient Services Ltd (EESL) has forayed into solar power generation and plans to set up 1,500 MW of decentralised solar power plants across the country by the end of 2020-21, its managing director, Saurabh Kumar said.

According to Kumar, the Maharashtra government had given mandate for 800 mw of solar power, of which EESL has already operationalised 100 MW. Rajasthan has given EESL the mandate to set up 113 MW of solar distributed generation projects, he added.

In Maharashtra, EESL is supplying electricity at Rs 3.10 per unit to agriculture feeders, with land for the project being provided by the state. In Rajasthan, the company will supply power at Rs 3.90 per unit along with land acquisition cost, he said.

The company, however, will not set up solar capacity of more than 10 MW at one location, Kumar said, adding that the capacity of these solar power plants in each substation ranges from 0.5 MW to 10 MW.

According to Kumar, the decentralised solar plants will meet the requirements of farmers connected to the agriculture feeder. He said EESL has installed 1.1 million smart meters in New Delhi Municipal Corp area, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Bihar. EESL has set a target of installing 250 million smart meters over the next few years.