The Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, R K Mathur held a meeting with Anand Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy in New Delhi on February 16.

The meeting deliberated on measures to make Ladakh a carbon-neutral region. He highlighted the small capacity solutions that will directly benefit the people of Ladakh. He stressed the need to harness solar energy on priority for solar space heating, solar water pumps, and solar heaters, and to completely replace diesel DG sets with solar power energy. These measures may cover the entire population.

The Secretary acknowledged the potential usage of solar energy in Ladakh and agreed to send an expert team to visit Ladakh at the earliest. He further agreed that a Ladakh-specific standalone scheme may be formulated to give early benefits.

In another meeting convened by L-G Mathur with Abhay Kumar Singh, CMD, NHPC Ltd. at Ladakh Bhawan in New Delhi, the need for ring transmission and network, smart metering in Leh and Kargil, as well as technical handholding were discussed. The Lt. Governor also requested NHPC to facilitate the issue of developing various economic and tourist activities at the existing Hydel project sites in Leh and Kargil districts. Other possibilities of setting up mini-hydel and solar-hydel hybrid projects by NHPC were also discussed.

NHPC has agreed to send a team of experts to Ladakh at the earliest to confirm the viability and workability of the discussed action points.    

The Lt. Governor held a meeting with Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research at Ladakh Bhawan, New Delhi. Mr. Mathur spoke about the vision to transform Ladakh into a market of high-value commercial supplies. In this regard, he discussed the need to introduce high-value crops and products in the sectors of agriculture, horticulture, medicinal and aromatic plants, fisheries, and animal husbandry. 

The DGICAR also stated that commercial agriculture is a prime and growing area for young entrepreneurs. He agreed to assist in developing projects for entrepreneurship.