Centre to Act on Solar House Proposal; Haryana Pushes for Power Reforms and Cyber Security: Manohar Lal
Chandigarh, June 6, 2025:
Union Power Minister Manohar Lal has assured that the Power Ministry will act on Haryana’s proposal to set up solar houses in villages, aimed at providing daytime electricity to farmers. The suggestion was made by Haryana Energy Minister Anil Vij during the Northern Region Power Ministers’ Conference held today.
Vij said the state government is working proactively to make Haryana self-reliant in the energy sector through the promotion of solar power. A pilot project to install solar houses is already underway and will be expanded statewide if successful.
Addressing energy officials from northern states, Vij emphasized the need for a national cyber security policy to safeguard the power sector. He cited the recent cyber-attacks during the May 2025 conflict with Pakistan that targeted the portals of UHBVN and DHBVN. In response, Haryana has installed Web Application Firewalls, initiated security audits, and is developing a disaster recovery center.
Vij also proposed a policy framework to regulate infrastructure installations over agricultural and residential land, and suggested underground cabling in densely populated areas. He stressed the importance of ensuring power infrastructure resilience during disasters and called for speedy establishment of nuclear power plants.
Power Generation and Infrastructure Expansion
Vij highlighted Haryana’s current installed capacity of 16,130.07 MW, including 6,018.15 MW from renewable sources. The state aims to boost capacity to 22,222 MW by FY 2031–32. An 800 MW ultra-supercritical unit is under construction in Yamunanagar, while similar expansions are planned at Hisar and Panipat.
The Haryana Power Transmission Corporation is implementing projects worth over ₹5,854 crore, including 41 new substations, 3,570 km of transmission lines, and upgrades to 178 existing substations, to be completed by FY 2029–30.
Seeking Centre’s Support
Vij urged the Union Power Minister to approve viability gap funding for a 600 MWh Battery Energy Storage System in Haryana. He also sought early approval of ₹3,179.47 crore under the RDSS for strengthening distribution systems in Sonepat and Jhajjar, and ₹142 crore under the LRP plan for 33 kV substation upgrades.
Additionally, he requested the release of ₹1,809.35 crore in interest-free loans from the ₹1.5 lakh crore national budget for transmission infrastructure and a PSDP grant of ₹366 crore for upgrading 26 HVPNL transmission lines with HTLS conductors.
Commitment to National Energy Goals
Haryana reaffirmed its full support to national energy initiatives including Green Energy Corridors, solar energy promotion, nuclear power projects, One Nation-One Grid vision, EV infrastructure, and smart metering.
The conference was attended by senior officials from the Union Power Ministry, Haryana’s Energy Department, and energy ministers and officers from J&K, Uttarakhand, UP, Delhi, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan.