(a) whether the Government has taken/proposed any steps to provide subsidized rooftop solar power connections to the rural population;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) if not, the reasons therefor;
(d) the details of data depicting the estimates of installed capacity of solar power separately for both rural and urban India, if any; and
(e) the steps taken by the Government to develop a pocket friendly technology for the easy accessibility of solar power to rural and urban population?
THE MINISTER OF NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND POWER
(SHRI R.K. SINGH)
(a) to (c) The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is implementing Rooftop Solar Programme Phase-II for which the guidelines were issued in August 2019. Under this Programme 4000 MW rooftop solar (RTS) capacity addition is targeted through Central Financial Assistance (CFA) in residential sector including for households in rural areas.
For individual households CFA upto 40% of the benchmark cost is provided for RTS projects upto 3 kW capacity and upto 20% for RTS system capacity beyond 3 kW and up to 10 kW. For Group Housing Societies/Residential Welfare Associations (GHS/RWA), CFA is limited to 20% for RTS plants for supply of power to common facilities of maximum 500 kW capacity.
Based on demand received from Distribution Utilities and other State implementing agencies, MNRE has allocated 3162 MW of RTS capacity against total 4000 MW capacity targeted under the Programme in residential sector and a total of 1252 MW capacity has been reported installed as on 28.02.2022.
(d) The total solar power installed capacity in the country as on 28.2.2022 was 50.78 GW including 6.4 GW from rooftop solar. The majority of rooftop solar installation are in urban areas. However, the bulk of total solar capacity is installed in rural areas.
(e) For promotion and use of solar powered technologies such as rooftop solar, solarisation of agriculture pumps both diesel operated and grid connected, solar street lights, solar study lamps, solar powered livelihood applications, etc., MNRE has been implementing several schemes and programmes.
Presently, the MNRE is providing financial support through schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) and Rooftop Solar Programme Ph-II making solar power more affordable and easily accessible to rural and urban population.
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