Ujani floating solar project to cover only 9% of reservoir, 40,000 jobs expected

Pune: The proposed floating solar project on the Ujani dam will occupy only about nine per cent of the reservoir, officials said on Sunday. The remaining 91 per cent will stay open. According to them, the project could create 2,800 permanent jobs and about 40,000 jobs in all, direct and indirect.

The information was given by officials of the Sina-Madha Project Sub-division No. 1 and the Ujani Dam Management Sub-division. They clarified after doubts and rumours about the project began spreading among local residents.

Officials said the project will use at most half a TMC of water in a year. The state government signed an MoU for the project in April. At full reservoir level the total area is 33,630 hectares, of which solar panels will float on 3,000 hectares. The plan includes 2,000 MW of power generation, 1,800 MW of battery storage and a 1.4 GW data centre.

Residents' biggest concern is water, so officials spoke most on this issue. They said the data centre will not use the traditional water-cooling method. It will have a closed-loop, direct-to-chip system, which keeps water consumption low. Officials also said no treated water or any other dirty water will be released into the Ujani reservoir or the river.

On land, officials said 415.75 acres of government land is proposed in the first phase. It lies at Bhimanagar-Ranjani in Madha taluka and at Taratgaon and Hingangaon in Indapur taluka. In the second phase another 174 acres will be used, but only if the forest department gives approval. Officials said clearly that the administration has no plan to take any private land or any other government land.

To hear people's concerns, the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation will appoint an independent project coordinator. The administration said it will engage with citizens through four representatives from each village: Bhimanagar, Taratgaon and Hingangaon.