In order to provide support for innovators in the renewable energy space and also to get help for their projects, the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) has partnered with Telangana’s startup engine T-Hub.
The power company has launched a REC Innovation Platform wherein 1,800 young engineering students from 30 government institutions in Telangana and AP will produce 600 projects. And out of this, 30 projects will be selected for advanced mentoring and finally three projects will be selected for further mentoring at T-Hub.
The students from select government institutions will go through the rigorous Conceptual Research Experience Programme and will be mentored on the finer points of research and innovation in the field of renewable energy. Researchers will be assigned to mentor teams of students towards building innovations in renewable energy ranging from solar energy and wind energy to geothermal energy and alternative bio fuels, and more.
Speaking about the programme, Jay Krishnan, CEO, T-Hub said, “The programme will have students from 20 institutions in Telangana and 10 from Andhra Pradesh and this will drive innovation from bottom up. This programme can transform the landscape of early school entrepreneurs. It will spread across a one year term.”
Dr P V Ramesh, chairman and MD, REC said, “The REC Innovation Platform aims to empower student innovators in the field of renewable energy. We are happy to have associated with T-Hub for this partnership.”
Elaborating on how corporation innovation programme can help innovators, Telangana IT Minister K T Rama Rao said, “The government of India has mandated REC with electrification of villages and this programme will help them in achieving this mandate. This will also go a long way in forging industry-academia partnerships. I would request all the government institutions and universities to focus on these partnerships so as to make students abreast with practical knowledge rather than just theoretical stuff.”
Electrification for all
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) in August 2015 to provide electricity to all villages in India within 1,000 days. And with the deadline coming closer, top officials opined that they will complete this task much before the deadline of May 2018.
“Government of India had mandated us to complete electrification of all villages by May 2018, but we are just left with 1,000+ villages to be electrified and we are confident that this will happen in next two months. By end of March no village in India will be there without electricity. And under the Saubhagya scheme we hope to provide electricity to all households by December 31 this year,” said Ramesh.
Speaking about the achievements of Telangana government, PSU chief informed that Telangana moving from power shortage State to power surplus State in just three years is ‘remarkable’. REC is working closely with the government on the Yadadri power project and is also looking forward to work on the Singareni’s solar power project.
Source: Telangana Today