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Under its flagship programme for rooftop solar PM Suryaghar Yojana, the government has installed around 4 lakh rooftop solar connections so far, according to the Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi. The scheme launched in February by Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims at installing rooftop solar at 10 million households by 2027 with a total outlay of Rs.75,021 crore. “Just last week India has achieved 4 lakh installations under PM Suryaghar Muft Bijlee Yojana,” Joshi said, adding that the country has added 17.44 GW solar PV capacity between January to September 2024. “Solar power constitutes 20% of India’s installed power capacity showing growth rate of more than 26% from last year. Solar power is leading the green energy transition,” he said. India’s renewable energy capacity crossed 200 GW as of October 10, according to data from the Central Electricity Authority. As per the official data, the country’s total renewable energy-based electricity generation capacity now stands at 201.45 GW. Solar power accounts for 90.76 GW, followed by wind power at 47.36 GW. While the government is focusing on quick implementation of the scheme in order to achieve its renewable energy capacity addition targets, it noted that in some states the transportation cost of panels is high which creates issues for deployment of rooftop solar panels. “Rooftop is doing extremely well,” said Ajay Yadav, joint secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy. “There are some states where the transportation cost of the panel is high like some northeastern states, and islands including Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar. We are trying to work out a way for this.” The minister highlighted that in India, a major challenge in the deployment of solar power projects is the availability of land. He informed that the government is in discussion with the developers and respective state governments to work out a solution and enable faster deployment of solar power projects. “Investment is a challenge (in solar energy). For India, it is land. We have planned and we have coordinated with the state governments and developers so that together we can work out and sort out this issue,” he said. “In spite of that we have performed well. The challenge is this and we have requested the state govt because ultimately it benefits the state also.” As of March 2024, residential rooftop solar installed capacity in India was about 3.2 gigawatts (GW), or 27% of the total rooftop solar installations in the country, with about three-quarters of this capacity in Gujarat, as per a report by JMK Research and Analytics. At 4 lakh installations, the country has added around 1.8 GW of new residential rooftop solar capacity, or more than half of India’s total, in just six months, as per the report. “With increased capital subsidy under PM Suryaghar Yojana and other factors such as decreasing solar module costs and improved consumer awareness and understanding of rooftop solar technology , the outlook for India’s residential rooftop solar market looks highly promising,” it said. None
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