PM Surya Ghar: Elections Defer Timely Disbursement Of Rooftop Solar Subsidies

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The ongoing elections in the state country seem to have deferred the timely disbursement of central subsidies under the PM Surya Ghar scheme. Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year announced PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana with a target to reach out to 1 crore households. The revamped scheme, dedicated to the residential rooftop solar consumers offered increased subsidies (Central Financial Grants) to rooftop consumers.

Several solar rooftop project developers recently went public and complained that the subsidies under the popular ambitious scheme had not been disbursement, leading to delays. They said that this has led to a trust deficit among the consumer and developers. Some of the developers and renewable energy associations in some states also shared screenshots of the completion of the projects and pending subsidy payments.

However, the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Association (REAR) in a recent public post revealed that in response to a complaint on the matter, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) cited the imposition of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) due to ensuing Lok Sabha elections in the country. As per the information shared by REAR, the MNRE said that disbursements of the central subsidies under the scheme would be after the withdrawal of the Model Code of Conduct.

As per the laid down process, after a customer applies for a new residential rooftop connection on the National Rooftop Portal under the erstwhile Rooftop Solar (RTS-II) scheme which has changed to PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, he/she is entitled to subsidies based on the total capacity of the solar generation plant installed onto their rooftops. After all necessary clearance, payment to the vendors and commissioning of the rooftop solar systems by the local discoms, the subsidies come to the bank account of the consumers within 30-45 days. However, there were reports on the payment of subsidies for the last one month.

On the other hand, the government has already claimed that it had received more than one crore applications on the National Rooftop Solar Portal for new rooftop connections under the PM Surya Ghar scheme.