■ By Sagar Mohod :
FOR effective implementation of rooftop solar scheme,
Maharashtra Government
has notified formation of
District Level Committees
(DLC) that would be headed
by the District Collector. The
committee’s scope includes
convergence between different departments, targeting
100 per cent solar power
usage at
G ov e r n m e n t
offices and
most importantly, co-ordination with
National Program
Implementation Agency
(NPIA) among others.
Rooftop solar plants have
gained popularity post
announcement by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and
the establishment of DLC
would hopefully help iron out
the deficiencies in scheme
implementation vis-a-vis
beneficiaries. The field units
have been asked to take up
constitution of DLC with
District Collectors at the earliest.
It may be recalled that
rooftop solar scheme is sponsored by Central Government
and is named PM Surya Ghar
Yojana, wherein subsidy is
available upto maximum 3
kW for households. A household is entitled
for subsidy
upto Rs 78,000
though there is
no maximum limit for capacity of rooftop installation of
solar module. But for practical purpose and to ensure
that maximum households
are covered and benefited
under the scheme, the subsidy is limited to just 3 kW.
The limit was also fixed after
considering the capacity and load of current power network.
Further, maximum households
on average can meet their power demand through 3 kW installation. According to the circular issued by MAHAVITARAN,
an undertaking of Maharashtra
Government, for information
of its field officers, mentions
about the composition of DLC
and outline of their scope of
work.The committee would be
a nine-member body with
District Collector acting as
Chairperson. The other members would include Chief
Executive Officer (CEO), Zilla
Parishad; Lead District
Manager; Superintending
Engineer(s); DISCOMs in
District; District Manager;
Renewable Energy
Development Agency (if any);
2 elected representatives from
Urban Local Bodies/PRIs nominated by District Magistrate
(DM); and three non-official
members nominated by
Mission Directorate, MNRE.
District Unit of State
Implementation Agency for PM
Surya Ghar: Muft BijleeYojana,
is tasked with providing secretarial assistant to DLC.
The MAHAVITARAN circular
is dated June 11, 2024, and it
was released recently postmeeting held at Headquarters wherein the issue of PM Surya Ghar
Yojana and its implementation
was deliberated upon by the
top brass. Officers from all the
Circles in Maharashtra attended the meet and discussed how
to go about implementation of
PM Surya Ghar Yojana.
Among the scope outlined for
DLC is that they would take
periodic review of progress
achieved under the Scheme
under all components from all
departments. Central
Government had announced
the scheme on February 29 and
its target is to install rooftop
solar plants on one crore
households in the country.
Administrative approval for the
scheme was granted on March
16, 2024. The Government of
India has provided an outlay
of Rs 75,021 crore for the
scheme.
Recently, Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy,
Rooftop Solar Division, issued
an Office Memorandum, dated May 29, 2024, directinf constitution of DLC. The committee is tasked with overall management of PM- Surya Ghar:
Mufti BijliYojana at District level. They also have to co-ordinate between different departments for implementation of
the scheme. The committee is
also tasked with drawing up
action plan for ensuring that
rooftops at all Government
offices are covered with solar
and in time-bound manner.
They are also tasked with
implementation of Model Solar
Village component of the
scheme. Similarly, the convergence angle between different
department is meant for awareness, capacity building and
rooftop solar installation in
existing beneficiaries of other
Government schemes.