Kasaragod: The Revenue Department has decided to lease 50 acres of government land in Kasaragod to Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) to set up a solar park. The land in Ambalathara village in Hosdurg taluk will be leased out for 30 years at an annual lease rent of Rs 32.05 lakh, fixed at 3 per cent of the market value. According to the order issued by the Revenue Department, the lease rate will be revised every three years.

The department has also laid out conditions to KMRL to use the land. In case trees need to be felled for the project, KMRL will have to plant and maintain three times the tree saplings.

The Revenue department has allocated 50 acres of land to KMRL from 377.91 acres of land meant to be assigned for the military wing. The government has already assigned 120.91 acres to the military wing. KMRL plans to establish solar park with a capacity of 12 MW. "We are also planning a solar park in Alappuzha to meet the energy requirements of the Kochi water metro. Solar power from the park at Kasaragod will be harnessed for Kochi metro," said Loknath Behera, MD, KMRL.

Behera said that the plan is to use solar power to meet 100 per cent of energy requirements. KMRL already has a solar park at Muttom, which meets over 50 per cent of total energy requirements.