Chandigarh Admin Approves Rs 250 pm Solar Panel Fee for Govt Houses

To make it viable for citizenry of the area to generate power, the administration has decided to install at least two kilowatts solar power capacity plant on every government house.

As Punjab governor and Chandigarh administrator has approved the rate, the government houses in the city with area of 1 Kanal or more have to pay Rs 250/month for 1 KW of solar power.

To make it viable for citizenry of the area to generate power, the administration has decided to install at least two kilowatts solar power capacity plant on every government house.

The houses that are under discussion are occupied by Judges, senior bureaucrats, ministers, doctors and other senior rank officers of Punjab, Haryana and Central government. There are around 350 to 400 government houses located in 11 sectors of the city and around all of them have ample space on their rooftops to install solar panels. All houses have an area of 1 to 6.5 kanals.

On monthly basis the 2 KW panels have potential of generating 200 to 250 units of power. This, according to renewable energy department, will reduce the bills of power by Rs 1000 to Rs 1200 monthly.

“The charges were approved by the administrator recently. The file is being processed by the finance department of the administration to decide the mode of payment and other aspects. Once the mode has been decided, the notification or order will be issued,” said an official of the UT administration.

The administration has already initiated the process in this regard. The department advertised a tender a couple of weeks back, but none of the parties participated. The UT has again re-advertised the tender after making some changes in the rates and given 21 days’ time for interested parties to participate.

The administration has planned make all government houses having an area of 1 kanal and above a solar energy-friendly house.

Source: ET