UPSC Prelims 2022 Q84: Solar Parks, Solar Airport, Floating Solar

Consider the following statements:

1. Gujarat has the largest solar park in India.

2. Kerala has a fully solar powered International Airport.

3. Goa has the largest floating solar photovoltaic project in India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 and 2
  2. 2 only
  3. 1 and 3
  4. 3 only

Answer: (b) 2 only

Statement-wise explanation

  • 1: incorrect — When the 2022 exam was set, India's largest commissioned solar park was Bhadla Solar Park in Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, at about 2,245 MW. Karnataka's Pavagada park (about 2,050 MW) came second. Gujarat's main working park at the time, Charanka in Patan district, was much smaller. Khavda in Gujarat has grown very large since then, but it was mostly still under construction in 2022.
  • 2: correct — Cochin International Airport in Kerala is called the world's first fully solar-powered airport. It switched on a 12 MWp solar plant of about 46,000 panels on 18 August 2015. The plant produces as much power as the airport uses, with surplus fed to the Kerala grid during the day and drawn back at night. In 2018 the UN Environment Programme gave the airport its Champions of the Earth award.
  • 3: incorrect — Goa has no large floating solar plant. In 2021–22, India's largest floating solar plants were all NTPC projects on the reservoirs of its thermal power stations: Simhadri, Andhra Pradesh (25 MW, 2021), Kayamkulam, Kerala (92 MW) and Ramagundam, Telangana (100 MW, fully commissioned on 1 July 2022). Ramagundam was declared India's largest floating solar project.

How to eliminate

Start with statement 2. Cochin airport's solar status is well-known current affairs, so you can mark it true with confidence. That removes the two options that leave statement 2 out, and it also rules out statement 3, because statement 3 never appears in an option alongside statement 2. You are left with '2 only' or '1 and 2'. To choose between them you must know one fact: the largest solar park (Bhadla) is in Rajasthan, not Gujarat. Gujarat is a tempting trap because of Charanka and the Khavda park announced in 2020. No wording trick helps here. Remember that Rajasthan led India in installed solar capacity in 2022 and that Bhadla is in Jodhpur district.

Know more

Solar parks are large sites where the Centre and states provide the land, transmission and clearances, and private or public developers then bid to build plants. MNRE's Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects scheme started in 2014–15 for this purpose.

Category Leading project State Note
Largest commissioned solar park (2022) Bhadla Rajasthan ~2,245 MW
Second largest (2022) Pavagada Karnataka ~2,050 MW
Largest renewable park planned Khavda (hybrid: solar + wind) Gujarat 30 GW target by 2029, on wasteland in the Rann of Kutch
Largest floating solar (2022) NTPC Ramagundam Telangana 100 MW
Other NTPC floating solar plants Kayamkulam; Simhadri Kerala; Andhra Pradesh 92 MW; 25 MW
First fully solar-powered airport Cochin International Airport Kerala 2015; UNEP Champions of the Earth 2018

Floating solar puts panels on floats over reservoirs. It needs no land, the water cools the panels and improves their output, and the panels reduce evaporation. India's first large plants were built on the water bodies of NTPC thermal power stations, so they could use grid connections already in place. Madhya Pradesh's Omkareshwar project on the Narmada is a newer large-scale example.

Watch the date. Superlatives such as 'largest' change over time. Khavda has been adding capacity in phases since 2024, and by 2026 one developer reported more than 9 GW installed there. So a question set today could have a different answer from the 2022 key. Always ask which year a 'largest' claim refers to.

In the news

In December 2020 the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of the 30 GW Khavda hybrid renewable park in Gujarat. That made Gujarat a natural trap for 'largest solar park'. In 2021–22, NTPC also commissioned a series of floating solar plants (Simhadri, Kayamkulam, Ramagundam), each described as India's largest.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

  • Bhadla Solar Park: Statement 1 turns on which state hosts this park, a common benchmark for India's largest solar park.
  • Floating solar: Statement 3 tests where India's biggest reservoir-based floating solar plant is located.
  • Khavda Renewable Energy Park: Gujarat's Khavda park is the distractor to separate from earlier record-holders in statement 1.
  • Solar energy: The basic resource behind all three statements: parks, airport plants and floating panels.

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