Interim Budget 2024 offers free electricity to 1 crore households through rooftop solar

Interim budget 2024: Presenting the interim budget on Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government will enable 1 crore households to obtain up to 300 units of free electricity every month through the rooftop solar programme.

"This scheme follows the resolve of the honourable Prime Minister on the historic day of consecration of Sri Ram Mandir in Ayodhya," the FM said in the parliament.

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Sitharaman highlighted the various benefits of the program, including annual savings of up to Rs 15-18,000 for households, selling surplus electricity to discoms, entrepreneurial opportunities for vendors in EV charging infrastructure, and employment opportunities for skilled youth in installation and maintenance.

Sitharaman also said that in line with the Panchamrit goals, the government will facilitate higher resource efficient economic growth. "This will work towards energy security in terms of availability, accessibility and affordability. For meeting the investment needs our government will prepare the financial sector in terms of size, capacity, skills and regulatory framework," the FM said.


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Additionally, she announced initiatives to achieve the Net zero target, such as VGF for offshore wind energy, coal gasification, EV ecosystem expansion, and a new scheme for bio manufacturing.

Solar energy plays a crucial role in India's aspirations to generate 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030. It is a vital component in the country's efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and combat climate change.

The Union Budget for 2023-24 had provided for an allocation of Rs 7,327 crore for the solar power sector including grid, offgrid, and PM-KUSUM projects. This was a 48 per cent increase over the previous Rs 4,979 crore provided in the revised estimates for the previous budget.

Among the many energy alternatives being adopted in the country, rooftop solar energy has been a big draw, with the Centre recently announcing the Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana. The scheme intends to supply power to households through solar rooftop installations while also providing extra money for excess electricity output. Announced in January, the scheme aims to install rooftop solar power in one crore households.

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“The power of the sun can be harnessed by every household with a roof to reduce their electricity bills and to make them truly aatmanirbhar for their electricity needs,” the Prime Minister said at the launch of the scheme.

In 2014, the BJP government initiated the Rooftop Solar Programme intending to attain a total installed capacity of 40,000 megawatts (MW) or 40 gigawatts (GW) by 2022. This was part of the plan to hit 100 gigawatts of solar power generation by 2022.

The 2022 target was missed, as solar power generation touched only 63.3 GW. By the end of 2023, solar power generation hit 73 GW. Of the 100 GW of solar power, 40 GW was supposed to be from solar panels installed on rooftops. But by the end of 2023, rooftop solar energy generation was just 11 GW.

The government, in January, increased benchmark central financial assistance for the residential sector under the rooftop solar program to give a push to the projects and cover the higher cost of solar panels.

Support for up to 3 kW capacity was raised to Rs 18,000 per kW for general states, up 23.4%, from Rs 14,588 per kW earlier, according to a notification from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

For over 3kW and up to 10 kW capacity, the assistance has been raised to Rs 9,000 per kW for general states from Rs 7,294 per kW.