Construction Industry News
After a long delay of more than four years, the central government finally gave its approval on Monday to release the outstanding subsidy rights worth Rs 32.5 million for residents who had installed solar power plants on the roof in 2019.
The Chandigarh government
Due to a shortage of funds, CREST officials had been unable to make the payments to Chandigarh residents who had installed solar power plants, leading to a backlog of 421 cases where people were still waiting for their rightful subsidies.
In August 2019, the central government had decided to boost the adoption of green energy in Chandigarh by increasing the grant amount to 40 percent for residents who install solar power plants up to 3 kWp on their roofs. CREST confirmed that the current grant amount would be paid out from next month.
The new RESCO (Renewable Energy Services Company) model was introduced in Chandigarh, making it the first of all the states and union territories in India to adopt it. Under this model, a third party builds, operates and transfers the solar power plant to consumers, while covering installation and commissioning costs. The excess power generated by these plants is supplied to the common grid after the homeowner's consumption needs are met.
According to the terms and conditions of the RESCO model, homeowners offer nearly 500 square feet of roof space for a 5kWp solar installation. They, in turn, receive electricity at a rate of Rs 3.23 per unit during the construction-operation-transfer period.
In January of the current year, the JERC (Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission) approved CREST's petition for the RSCO model, designating CREST as the implementing agency for renewable energy projects under the Department of Science and Technology, UT.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had set an increased solar power generation target for Chandigarh, increasing it from 69 MW in 2022 to 75 MW by August 15, 2023. At the moment, the UT has realized a generation of about 55 MW.
