New Delhi: Delhi govt will provide free rooftop solar systems to domestic consumers with average monthly electricity consumption of up to 400 units, with govt bearing the entire cost of the solar panels and their installation.
The chief minister said Delhi aims to install solar systems on 2.3 lakh rooftops and add 500 MW of rooftop solar capacity under Delhi Solar Policy by March next year. Importantly, consumers using up to 200 units of electricity will not only continue to receive the benefit of the subsidy after installing the solar system, but also earn an energy-saving incentive against the electricity they save,” the chief minister’s office said in a statement. Power minister Ashish Sood said the free solar system installation will put a burden of Rs 1,900 crore on Delhi govt, which will be recovered largely through savings on subsidies and electricity purchases over four years. The process which earlier took around 75 days has now been reduced to 25 days. In addition, application and registration fees for residential solar systems of up to 10 kW have been completely waived,” Gupta said. Sood said the cabinet had approved amendments to the Delhi Solar Energy Policy, 2023. The same BJP govt is securing and institutionalising it for the next 25 years,” Sood said.
Gupta said the decision would make solar adoption easier for ordinary households without imposing any financial burden. “People need not pay even a single rupee for the installation of a domestic solar system,” said Sood. The cabinet, chaired by chief minister Rekha Gupta, Tuesday approved the amendments to the existing solar policy to enable the rollout of the scheme. The move is part of govt’s push to promote solar power generation in the capital. “Consumers will not have to pay any amount for the installation. “Under the new policy, the net-metering process for residential solar systems, the mechanism through which consumers receive credit for surplus electricity sent to the grid or a reduction in their monthly bills, has also been expedited. “For years, Arvind Kejriwal tried to frighten the people of Delhi by saying that if BJP came to power, free electricity would be stopped.