☀️ India's Grand Solar Plan Explained!
Will we be able to achieve our ambitious solar goals this time?
On 22 Jan ‘24, PM Modi unveiled the 'Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana'.
What will it do?
Reduce electricity bills for poor and middle-class Indians.
How?
Read on.
Under this scheme, the government will install roof-top solar power systems for 1 crore households in 1 year, with an investment of Rs. 1.2 lakh crore.
Govt-owned Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) will be implementing this program - it has approved Rs. 15,000 crore each for eight PSUs (public sector undertakings) to install these panels.
How will this help, you ask?
Lower bills: A rooftop solar system with a capacity of 5 kWh can contribute to monthly savings of ~500-600 units of electricity.
Energy independence: This could potentially add 20-25 gigawatts of solar power capacity - a 12-14 times increase!
Under this scheme, the government is also providing subsidies.
It is offering a 40% subsidy for installing 3KW solar panels.
For larger capacities of 10KW, a 20% subsidy is offered.
These subsidies are lowering installation costs (~Rs 2.20 lakh to 3.5 lakh for a 3KW - 5KW system).
Affordable EMIs of Rs 4,000 - 5,000 are also available.
Now, who qualifies for this scheme?
Eligibility Criteria for PMSY:
Applicant must be Indian
There may be specific income criteria (not yet clarified)
Ownership of assets wherein the solar panels are to be set up
Those who have no longer previously benefited from comparable authorities’ solar energy schemes may be prioritised
Now, while this scheme will help 1 crore households it has a broader vision.
It is a step towards becoming self-reliant in renewable energy.
You see, India is the third largest global energy consumer (after China and the US).
In the next 30 years, we may surpass the current total power usage of Africa!
In fact, we are set to become the world's largest energy consumer
To meet this rising demand, India has set a target of achieving 500 GW renewable energy capacity by 2030.
But, but.
We are not very good at execution.
In 2014, we had a target of achieving 100 GW solar power by 2022.
Did we achieve it?
Naah.
We achieved only 73.3 GW.
This is not it.
We also missed the target of achieving a rooftop capacity of 40 GW by 2022 under the ‘Har Ghar Solar’ scheme launched in 2014.
Now, the deadline has been extended to 2026.
And the Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana (PMSY) is a move towards achieving this Target.
How do you think we can bridge the gap between planning and execution of schemes?
Let us know in the comments!
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