Budgetary Allocation for Solar Sees Upward Thrust, But Wind Slumps

Budget 2023-24 allocation for solar

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has placed eminence on green growth in Budget 2023-24. Consequently, a slew of announcements and schemes have been announced. Off-grid and grid-connecting solar projects as well as PM-KUSUM has also see a major increase in budgetary allocation. An outlay of Rs 7327 crore has been approved towards the scheme for both grid-connected and off-grid projects. As per the Expenditure Budget, grid-connected projects have got an allocation of Rs 4970 crore, while those off grid have an outlay of Rs 361 crore. For PM-KUSUM, Rs 1996 crore has been allocated. As per the revised estimates, this accounts for 48% rise Y-O-Y.

Other than that, AJAY (Atal Jyoti Yojana)

Atal Jyoti Yojana (AJAY) is a “sub-scheme under Off- Grid and Decentralized Solar Application Scheme of MNRE.” The Scheme makes way for the installation of solar LED lights in rural, semi-urban and urban areas, which face the challenge of inadequate power.

In phase-I and phase-II of AJAY, EESL has installed more than 1.97 lakh Solar LED street lights in the villages of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The Expenditure Budget document shares that the Phase III of the programme (off grid) will look at the installation of three lakh solar street lights, disbursement of 25 lakh solar street lamps. Along with these initiatives, the implementation of this phase will facilitate the installation of solar power packs of 100 MW capacity. The Phase II will see the installation of three lakh solar street lights. Another 20 MW worth of concentrated solar thermal projects will be executed.

While the solar budget outlay has seen a rise, the allocation for wind projects has slumped. As per revised estimates, the total allocation, which stands at Rs 1214 crore in this Budget, has nosedived at 14% when compared to last year.

As far as Green Hydrogen is concerned, Rs 279 crore has been planned for the National Green Hydrogen Mission.