Rooftop solar plan to generate '20K MW of additional power' in Rajasthan

Jaipur, Feb 3 (IANS) Rajasthan will lead the show in the proposed rooftop solar scheme -- Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana. Around 20000 MW business is expected to be generated across the nation via rooftop solar installations out of which 5000 MW business will be generated in Rajasthan, says Sunil Bansal, president, Rajasthan Solar Association.

Rajasthan will lead the show in this domain. This is because it has a strong ecosystem and big players are already operating here. The idea of solar power emanated from here and we have come a long way in this domain, he adds.

The Central government recently announced that the beneficiaries of the government's proposed rooftop solar scheme will get free electricity up to 300 units per month.

This one announcement has changed the mindset of the entire industry, says Sunil Bansal, adding that earlier the discoms considered the solar industry as competitors. They thought that if the solar industry grew, they would be finished, they never used to promote the solar industry. However, now, there comes a business opportunity of around Rs one lakh cr and hence their mindset has changed. These discom officials are calling us and asking what kind of help do you want from us, he added.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during the interim budget presentation, highlighted that the scheme would enable 10 million households to sell their surplus solar energy. This is projected to yield annual savings of between Rs 15,000 to Rs 18,000 for each of these households.

SK Bhati, superintending engineer, Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd, told IANS, “There is a strong probability that the announcement will bring in large number of consumers. The 300 unit free electricity gives a big boost to the scheme and hence we expect a large number of consumers.”

However, we are awaiting a detailed guideline on this. Once this guideline comes, we will be able to work in this direction, he added.

Bhati says there are around 70 vendors working to make solar installations in Jodhpur. In the coming days this number will increase. In a recent meeting here, we worked on taking this number to 1000, he added.

Meanwhile, we are waiting to see if the state government also announces something on this in its budget, he added.

Bansal said that the scheme has led to positive sentiments, however, there are many challenges too. This seems to be a strong reply to the political parties who were seen distributing freebies (revadis) during elections in terms of free electricity units.

Now, these solar installations are giving 300 units of free electricity and small consumers will be lured by the offer, he adds.

Bansal states that overall business worth 500 GW, that is 5 lakh MW, has been set as the target till 2030… out of this, 2 lakh gigawatt production is a must from Rajasthan, If this doesn’t materialise, then India will be unable to meet its target, he opines.

Earlier, the government had focused on large projects but in the last six months this focus seems to have changed. Now the focus has shifted to rooftop installations. There is a need to bring revolutionary changes in policy to make this a success. Small changes will not bring much success, says Bansal.

Bhati meanwhile says that the small users will be keen to install solar rooftops. Expecting a strong feedback, we have already shortlisted around 1000 vendors in Jodhpur. In fact, we have made all the preparations to make it a success, informs Bhati.

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