Srinagar, Oct 3: Jammu and Kashmir has entered the “take-off stage” in rooftop solar adoption under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, Secretary, Ministry of Power, Government of India, Pankaj Aggarwal said, while acknowledging that the Union Territory still needs to build momentum in the sector.
Aggarwal made the remarks after visiting the Seva Setu Abhiyan Camp at Jogger’s Park, Rajbagh, Srinagar, organised under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. He said his visit to J&K was aimed at understanding the developments taking place in the power sector, including work being undertaken under the Centre’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) and the rooftop solar programme.
“There is a lot of work happening in J&K under the central government scheme of RDSS and, again, today what we are witnessing is the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. It is quite encouraging,” Aggarwal said, adding that a review meeting would give him a better perspective of the progress.
Responding to complaints from beneficiaries about delays in receiving subsidy payments under the rooftop solar scheme, Aggarwal said the subsidy disbursement system of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) was portal-driven and the flow of central subsidy was smooth.
“So far as we understand, the MNRE subsidy disbursement system is totally portal-driven and it has been quite well streamlined. The flow of subsidy from the central government is quite smooth and it is directly to the beneficiaries,” he said.
However, Aggarwal said the issue of additional subsidy support from the J&K administration could be discussed with the Chief Secretary. “One gentleman suggested that if the UT top-up subsidy could be better, and we will have a discussion with the Chief Secretary when we meet him,” he said.
On the overall progress of solar power in the country, Aggarwal said the large-scale solar capacity being installed across India was predominantly ground-mounted, particularly in states such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
“164 gigawatts are connected to ground-mounted solar, which is dominant in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Ground-mounted solar has been used extensively in all these states,” he said.
He, however, said J&K’s solar trajectory was different, with rooftop solar expected to play a significant role. Aggarwal said the Union Territory had made a “good start” under PM Surya Ghar but needed time to build momentum.
“J&K has made a good start in PM Surya Ghar and it takes time to build momentum in the state. Now we are in the take-off stage and it will do very well,” he said.
