MNRE Amends Rules For Solar Mini-Grid Installations In Tribal Area

In a notification released on March 26, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) amended the dedicated scheme aimed at electrification of unelectrified households belonging to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). This initiative was launched under the Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM JANMAN) on January 4th.

According to the original notification released by MNRE earlier this year, the ministry obtained approval from the President to implement the new scheme from 2023-24 to 2025-26. The ministry’s objective was to electrify 1 lakh households in PVTG areas across 18 Indian states. Recently, an additional provision was announced in the MNRE notification released on January 4th, this provision was introduced following requests from states and implementing agencies. These requests urged the government to include household electrification under the scheme by installing solar mini-grids through the CAPEX mode. This latest amendment specified, “The Mini-Grid can be installed through CAPEX and RESCO mode with the central financial assistance (CFA).”

The revised provision for mini-grid installation now includes both CAPEX and RESCO modes, with the provided CFA limited to 50,000 per household. Additionally, the new provision permits implementing agencies to receive extra funds under the CAPEX mode from the state government, if necessary.

The scheme was introduced to cover electrification of One Lakh un-electrified households (HHs) in PVTG areas identified by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and located in 18 States, namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal, and UT of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, by provision of off-grid solar systems where electricity supply through grid is not techno-economically feasible,” the notice from MNRE said.

In addition, the scheme also included provisions for providing solar lighting in 1500 Multi-Purpose Centres (MPCs) in PVTG areas where electricity through the grid is not available. As per the scheme’s provisions, there are two components. This included a provision of 0.3 KW of solar off-grid systems for 1 lakh PVTF households, where the Union government will share 100 percent of the total cost. As per the plan, each household will need Rs 50,000 under the component. The approved financial outlay for the component stands at Rs 500 crore.