While announcing the completion of 1 Million Solar Urja Lamp (SoUL) programme of IIT Bombay in record time, Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Mr Piyush Goyal has announced the scaling up of the programme to 10 crore students across the country.
“MNRE will provide the required financial support of Rs. 1800 crore for this mission,” he said. Mr Piyush Goyal also appreciated the efforts of villagers who assembled and distributed the lamps.
Director of IIT Bombay Professor Devang Khakhar lauded the efforts of the project team. “The SoUL project is the largest project implemented by IIT Bombay. It has benefited 1 million school children. We are proud of this achievement and are grateful for the help of sponsors of the project,” he said.
Head of the programme Professor Chetan S. Solanki from Department of Energy Science and Engineering said, “IIT Bombay has always been a strong advocate for ‘Right to Light’. We want to ensure every school student gets sufficient light to study. Our solar lamps have solved that problem”. He further added that about 10 crore students in the country from tribal blocks, high kerosene consumption blocks and educationally backward blocks will benefit from the programme.
