Monday, January 5, 2014: The Central government has taken a decision to cut half the subsidy on rooftop solar power panels. The MNRE has stated that the subsidy is likely to be reduced up to 15 per cent. The announcement of the scheme came in the wake of new year. However, the state officials had expected that the Centre would offer a 30 per cent subsidy with additional concessions from Haryana in order to make the scheme more lucrative and its execution easier.
The subsidy scheme is an obstacle for Haryana as the state has made installation of rooftop solar panels on the buildings mandatory. Haryana wants to implement this scheme by September this year.
The ministry had updated the notification on its website stating the the policy was under revision and might be reduced up to 15 per cent from the current rate of 30 per cent, either in the form of capital subsidy to be given directly to accounts linked to Aadhaar or in the form of interest subsidy.
The Haryana government has not yet decided the amount of subsidy it would give. Gurgaon’s additional deputy commissioner and project officer for the rooftop solar scheme, Vinay Pratap said that in case the Centre decides to reduce the central subsidy, the state government may consider retreading its share, clarifications and road map which are not yet issued.
Speaking to The Times of India, Arun K Tripathi, scientist at the ministry said that it may be infeasible to provide central subsidy to all the beneficiaries applying for installing of rooftop solar power panels. He added that preference would be given to schools, colleges, hospitals, public community centres, government buildings over industrial and commercial buildings.
It is now obligatory for all buildings on a plot size of 418.06 sqm or above in Haryana to install solar panels. The least requirement is a 1kW plant, which costs around Rs 0.1 million. Haryana has set an installation deadline of September 2015, however outdoing the cost element is probably the greatest challenge.
