Government subsidy to villages using solar power

In order to promote solar power, the government is subsidising the technology. Besides, efforts are also on to encourage people to get into using the solar energy equipment. In rural areas, the village pradhans who are willing to set up a solar power plant are given 50% subsidy by the government, for up to 200 Mw. In some of the villages, such efforts have already paid off.

Ensuring affordable, adequate and uninterrupted power supply to domestic and other consumers remains one of the major challenges before the country. There is also an increasing concern and growing interest to reduce reliance on fossil fuel and other non-renewable sources of energy. Time is, therefore, ripe to opt for cleaner and greener fuel.

"Solar energy is a clean energy," said V K Tiwari, project officer, UPNEDA. With over 300 clear sunny days available annually in India, there is a huge potential to tap, store and retrieve solar power - much more than the current power requirements. However, the actual exploitation of solar power to meet the energy requirements of the country is insignificant when compared to other energy resources.One of the major reasons for the solar energy not being popular is the high input cost. The solar panel and battery, which is must for the solar energy set-up, comes at a high cost. "We are working to bring this cost down," said Tiwari. GoI has launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) as a major initiative to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing country's energy security challenges.

The immediate focus of the mission is to set up an enabling environment for solar energy penetration in the country through a multi-agency approach for centralised and decentralised applications of solar energy. To cut the costs, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), GoI, has introduced a scheme to promote commercial marketing of solar energy systems and devices by extending capital and interest subsidy on loans availed from financial institutions by the target clientele.

UPNEDA is making efforts to promote use of solar energy systems and devices in the state. "Solar water heaters are being provided in Kasturba Gandhi hostels in the state," said Arun Kumar Srivastava, publicity officer, UPNEDA. Besides, in many of the primary health centres (PHCs), refrigerators are working on solar power to store medicines under certain temperature.