New Delhi. There is great relief news for lakhs of families of Delhi regarding electricity bills. Delhi Cabinet has approved the second amendment of Delhi Solar Power Policy. Under this, the government is going to install free rooftop solar systems on the roofs of 2.30 lakh houses. The special thing is that the eligible families will not have to pay any money in the beginning to get the system installed.
The benefit of this scheme will be available to those houses whose average electricity consumption is up to 400 units. Rooftop solar system with a capacity of up to 3 kilowatts will be installed in eligible houses. The difference in the cost of the system after the subsidy received from the Center and Delhi Government will be borne by the Delhi Government itself.
The government has also completely abolished the application and registration fees for residential rooftop solar systems. That means people will not have to pay a fee of even Rs 1 for applying or registering. Even after the system is installed, people will not have to worry about its maintenance. The vendor will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the solar system for 5 years.
The government has also changed the method of incentives available on solar systems. Earlier this incentive was available for a period of 5 years. Now its benefits will be given immediately at the time of system installation. With this, people will get financial benefits quickly in adopting solar system. Along with this, the existing electricity subsidy will also continue. This means that eligible families will get the benefit of electricity savings from solar and the existing electricity subsidy of the government will also continue.
After installation of rooftop solar, the process of net metering will also be faster. The government has reduced its deadline from 75 days to just 25 days. With this, people installing solar systems will take less time in the process of connecting them to the electricity grid. The government has also set a target of adding 500 MW additional rooftop solar capacity in Delhi by March 2027. At present, about 228 MW electricity is being produced from solar energy in Delhi. So far, 10,073 solar installations have been done, a large number of which are in government buildings.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has said that the government's aim is not just to reduce electricity bills. The objective is that every household should not only be a consumer of electricity, but also become a producer of electricity. He has called this scheme a gift to the people of Delhi. The government has already started the process of installing solar systems on all government buildings.
The new policy has also been linked to the vision of Prime Minister Surya Ghar Free Electricity Scheme. The ultimate goal of the government is to connect as many rooftops of Delhi as possible with solar power. If the target of connecting 2.30 lakh houses to this scheme by March 2027 is achieved, then the use of solar energy at domestic level in Delhi can increase rapidly.