Prime Minister announces 'Surya Ghar' Free Electricity Scheme
NEW DELHI~ On 13th February: Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a free power initiative. The scheme is called 'PM Surya Ghar: Free Electricity Scheme'. This solar plan is for the rooftop. One crore homes would benefit from free power under this new initiative. Over Rs 75,000 crore would be invested by the government in this initiative. With up to 300 units of free power every month, it hopes to illuminate one crore households. The government would immediately transfer subsidies into the beneficiaries' bank accounts as part of the program. Furthermore, bank loans will be given to them at favorable interest rates. According to the PM, all kinds of facilities will be incorporated into a national web platform that will be established for this purpose. It will function as something like a portal user interface. You may use any sort of capability in this. Urban local authorities and panchayats would be encouraged to promote rooftop solar systems in their regions to drive grassroots promotion of this project. Aside from that, this program aims to boost earnings, lower energy costs, and give people work chances. The 2024–25 budget included an announcement about this plan. Unique characteristics of the plan ~ Beneficiaries: One crore of middle-class and impoverished families will benefit. Free Electricity: Up to 300 units of free power every month Solar panels: To be mounted on residential roofs Government support: A subsidy of up to 60% Cost estimate: Rs 75,000 crore Advantages of the plan ~ Discrease in the amount of power bill A rise in energy security Decrease in particulate matter creation of jobs How to apply for a rooftop solar scheme? Go to 'Apply for Rooftop Solar' on the pmsuryagarh.gov.in website. Follow these steps for registration: Step 1: Register on the portal with the following: Select your state Your electricity distribution company Enter your electricity consumer number Enter mobile number Enter email Follow the instructions on the portal Step 2 Login with consumer number and mobile number Apply for rooftop solar as per the form Step 3 Wait for feasibility approval from Discom. Once you get feasibility approval, get the plant installed from any of the vendors registered with your Discom. Step 4 Once installation is complete submit plant details and apply for a net meter Step 5 After installation of the net meter and inspection by the Discom, they will be able to generate the commissioning certificate from the portal. Step 6 Once you receive the commissioning report, submit the bank account details and a canceled check through the portal. You will get your subsidy in your bank account within 30 days. Modi stated that incentives will be provided to urban local bodies and panchayats to encourage rooftop solar systems within their jurisdictions to popularize this plan at the grassroots level. "At the same time, the scheme will lead to more income, lesser power bills, and employment generation for people," stated the prime minister. Solar Energy is the New Normal? ~ India has been dependent on China for solar energy equipment for a very long time. India has been eager to increase domestic manufacturing capacity via the Make-in-India initiative and with the ambitious plan of Production-linked Incentives, as over 90% of it is imported from China. India's solar sector now appears to be improving. The first half of 2023 saw an 80% decrease in China's solar module shipments into India, amounting to $2 billion, based on Chinese export data compiled by energy research group Ember. Between January and June 2023, the total imports of solar modules fell by 76% to 2.3 GW from 9.8 GW during the same time the previous year. While there are encouraging signs of growth in India's solar industry, the country will need to work harder to meet the challenge of reducing Chinese imports without negatively impacting the development of local solar capacity, which is negatively impacted when cheap Chinese imports are not available in sufficient quantities to meet local industry's steep demand. Solar energy is bound to be in our future. There's a kind of inevitability about it. Even if we didn't have greenhouse gases, we're going to have to move away from fossil fuels, as we're going to run out. They're finite, whereas solar and wind are infinite. “We have this handy fusion reactor in the sky called the sun; you don’t have to do anything, it just works. It shows up every day.” – Elon Musk
