LAHORE: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar, accompanied by Provincial Minister for Energy Dr Muhammad Akhter Malik, inaugurated newly-installed 1-MW solar wall at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Lahore, on Monday.

He said that UET's solar energy project was a beacon for other universities, adding that the government was encouraging alternative energy sources.

“We are also trying to implement solar energy projects in public and private educational institutions.”

Addressing the inaugural ceremony, he said: “I want our universities to be among top 500 universities in the world and their quality of education to be even better.”

He vehemently denied reports of vice-chancellors' powers and budget cuts for universities.

He said that as long as he was the chancellor, the powers of the VC of any university would not be diminished.

Earlier, Provincial Minister for Energy Dr. Akhtar Malik said that solar panel pilot projects were starting from the UET and the government was planning to overcome the energy crisis.

He said that if solar energy projects were implemented in 60 universities, billions of rupees would be saved annually.

Universities were currently buying electricity at Rs. 26 per unit, but they would get Rs. 10 per unit through solar energy.

During the ceremony, Project Director Dr Waqar Mahmood highlighted all ongoing solar energy-based projects of the UET.

After completion of all these projects, the university would get an annual benefit of Rs. 60 million. Vice Chancellor Dr Mansoor Sarwar thanked the governor and said that clean and green energy had become a need of the whole world.

The UET would save millions of rupees and spent it on research projects.