Yogi govt leads India’s green push with solar power and plantation drive, 214 crore saplings planted in eight years to increase greenery
Yogi govt gears up to develop Bundelkhand Expressway as a solar expressway, Solar energy production increases tenfold in UP in the last eight years....
Lucknow: Climate change is manifesting through rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and extreme weather events across India. To counter this, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government is driving two key solutions: expanding green cover and promoting green energy. With focused efforts on both fronts, UP is fast emerging as a national leader in sustainable development.
During a recent visit to Lucknow, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs and Food, Prahlad Joshi, praised these initiatives, stating, “Under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s leadership, Uttar Pradesh is emerging as a role model in meeting the rising energy demands. The solar energy initiatives in Ayodhya and Varanasi are exemplary.”
Under the Solar Energy Policy 2022, the Yogi government has set an ambitious target of generating 22,000 megawatts of solar power by 2027. Solar parks are being developed in key districts such as Jhansi, Lalitpur, Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Chitrakoot, and Jalaun to achieve this.
When CM Yogi Adityanath assumed office in 2017, the state’s solar energy generation capacity was just 288 megawatts. This has increased nearly tenfold, and efforts are underway to expand it further.
Plans include setting up solar parks in all municipal corporations, installing solar grids along railway tracks and expressways, and powering streetlights with solar energy. The transmission infrastructure is also being upgraded to support this enhanced capacity.
Ayodhya is being developed as a “solar city” in a tribute to Lord Shri Ram of the Suryavanshi lineage. The government is also working in phases to transform all 16 remaining municipal corporations and Noida into solar cities. The Bundelkhand Expressway is also slated to become India’s first solar-powered expressway.
The state actively promotes rooftop solar projects under the PM Surya Ghar Yojana to further encourage the adoption of solar energy. The target for rooftop panel installations has been doubled for the fiscal year 2025– 26, with plans to install 2.65 lakh panels this year.
The Housing and Urban Planning Department has also introduced a new mandate: for plots exceeding 5,000 square meters, rooftop solar panels are now mandatory for building plan approvals. Non-compliance may lead to the cancellation of the approved map. Correspondingly, the target for rooftop installations has been raised to 8 lakh by the financial year 2026–27.
On the greenery front, the government aims to plant 35 crore saplings during this year’s monsoon season. Over the past eight years, an impressive 214 crore saplings have been planted, significantly increasing the state's green cover.
According to the Indian Forest Status Report 2023, Uttar Pradesh has recorded the second-highest forest cover improvement in the country, after Chhattisgarh, with an increase of 559.19 square kilometers. The state’s plantation drives also prioritize plants with nutritional and medicinal value, further aligning environmental goals with public health.
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