Gandhinagar: Gujarat is No.1 in installation of rooftop solar projects with installed capacity of 261.97 Mega Watt (MW) as on 23 July, 2019. Total rooftop solar installation in India stands at 1,700.54 MW. Gujarat is followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with 198.52 MW and 151.62 MW respectively. Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy and Power Shri R. K. Singh provided the information in Rajya Sabha on July 23, 2019 while replying to a question raised by MP Shri Parimal Nathwani.

According to the statement of the minister, the government of India has provided total financial assistance/incentives of Rs 678.01 crore in FY2016-17, Rs 169.73 crore in FY2017-18 and Rs 446.77 crore in FY2018-19 under the Grid Connected Rooftop Solar programme. The Government of India has set a target of installation of 40,000 MW of Rooftop Solar (RTS) projects by the year 2022 in the country including installation of RTS on rooftop of houses.

Shri Nathwani wanted to know about the target fixed by the Government for generation of power by installing solar panels at rooftops of the houses along with the funds allocated to achieve the said target and quantum of power generated through RTS.

The minister said that in Gujarat out of total 261.97 MW installation 183.51 MW are subsidized installations and 78.45 MW are non-subsidized installations. The minister’s statement also said that no formal study has been done to assess the quantum of power generated through solar panels installed at rooftops of the houses, but on an average it is estimated that 1.5 million units per MW per year are generated from solar rooftop plants.

DeshGujarat