Union Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh clarified on Friday, February 2, that the solar energy scheme announced as part of the interim Budget will be completely different from the existing schemes and will be fully funded by the Centre and public sector undertakings (PSUs) with beneficiary households not having to pay anything.
"It is going to be different from the existing scheme. Here we will proactively go to those households whose consumption is less than 300 units and get in touch with them to set up rooftop panels," Singh said.
Singh further added that the households will not have to do anything; they don't have to take any loans. The PSUs will bear the entire cost of setting it up, with a scheme that combines both a subsidy and a loan, but that loan will be offset by the excess units that will be generated.
"The move will ensure that electricity costs become zero from day one. We will give a higher subsidy for this new category. It may go up to 60%, and a loan for the remaining 40%, which will not be taken by households but by CPSUs."
In a big push for the rooftop solar segment, the interim budget announced an outlay of ₹10,000 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana that will help with free electricity for up to 300 units per month for one crore households. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said it will lead to household savings of ₹15,000–₹18,000 annually.
In a post-budget press conference, Finance Secretary TV Somanathan said, "There is a provision of ₹10,000 crore for the rooftop solar scheme in the budget."
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