MNRE Secretary hopeful of achieving one crore rooftop solar installations under PM Suryaghar in "quick time"

New Delhi [India], September 23 (ANI): Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi, on Tuesday, said he is confident that the ambitious target of one crore households under the PM Suryaghar rooftop solarisation scheme will be achieved within a short span of time.

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2024, the scheme provides households with free electricity through the installation of subsidised rooftop solar panels, significantly reducing their energy costs.

By promoting the widespread use of solar power, the scheme is expected to save the government an estimated Rs 75,000 crore annually in electricity costs.

“We are very hopeful that in very quick time we will be able to achieve one crore households,” Sarangi told ANI on the sidelines of the 6th International Energy Conference and Exhibition here in the national capital, adding that so far nearly 20 lakh households have been covered under the scheme.

He underlined that state governments are showing strong interest in adapting and implementing PM Suryaghar at scale.

Sarangi noted that 15 to 20 lakh households will be added in the current financial year itself, while “next year, since the scale has gone up, we would be looking forward to another 30 to 40 lakhs installations”.

He added that domestic manufacturing is also being scaled up under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, with an outlay of Rs 24,000 crore.

“With this, domestic manufacturing of solar modules, cells, ingot wafers, and polysilicon has been promoted. That’s also coming up in a big way,” he said.

Sarangi also stressed the importance of the National Green Hydrogen Mission, which has an outlay of Rs 19,677 crore.

“Multiple pilots are being made in areas of steel, in mobility, in transport, in shipping,” he said. “So we are looking at ways in which green hydrogen can be utilized to decarbonize our initiative. And in this, electrolyzer manufacturing, green ammonia manufacturing, green hydrogen manufacturing is being promoted in a big way.”

Asked about the potential of artificial intelligence in renewable energy installations, the MNRE Secretary noted that the role of AI is limited in this context.

“(AI has a role in) RE integration to the grid, and how the grid management will happen, how the power distribution will happen. The AI will play a lot of roles in this,” he added. (ANI)

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