10 days since launch, Tangedco receives 4,000 applications under PM’s rooftop solar scheme

CHENNAI: It has only been 10 days since the Centre launched the new solar rooftop scheme, but the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) has already received as many as 4,000 applications to install rooftop plants from domestic consumers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijili Yojana, a solar rooftop scheme aiming to set up solar plants in one crore households across the country. Under the scheme, the consumers would get a subsidy of Rs 30,000 per kilowatt (kW) up to two kW and Rs 78,000 for capacities of three kW and above.

The positive response from the domestic consumers to the newly launched scheme has come amid Tangedco setting an ambitious target of achieving installation of rooftop solar plants in 25 lakh households in the State in one year, which is nearly one-fourth of the country’s target.

The consumers have to apply for the scheme through the national portal for rooftop solar, www.solarrooftop.gov.in or www.pmsuryaghar.gov.in. Applications registered in the national portal would be redirected to the Tangedco online portal for further processing. “We have received 4,000 applications from the national portal in 10 days,” official sources told DT Next.

Currently, 33,447 rooftop solar connections are in the Low-Tension (LT) category with a total capacity of 238 MW. Among the LT category, domestic rooftop solar connections account for 21,499 services with a capacity of 75 MW. In the High-Tension (HT) category, there are 536 rooftop connections with a capacity of 299 MW.

Tamil Nadu Solar Energy Developers Association president P Ashok Kumar said many people are enquiring about the PM’s scheme.

“Tangedco CMD has fixed a target of 1,000 rooftop connections per section. There is a clear change in the mindset of Tangedco. To achieve the target, there is a need for a lot of awareness and campaigning among the public,” he said. He also urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to direct the banks to provide loans by setting specific targets for installing rooftop solar under the new scheme.