Create public awareness on Surya Ghar Yojana, officials told

Vijayawada : Chief secretary K Vijayanand instructed the officials to take steps to create awareness among the people on Pradhan Mantri Surya Garh Scheme in the state. The first state-level coordination committee meeting was held under the chairmanship of the CS at the Secretariat on Surya Garh Scheme and Pradhan Mantri-Kusum schemes. Speaking on the occasion, the chief secretary said that the Central government has introduced this scheme across the country to enable households to generate their own electricity by installing solar rooftops and reduce the burden of electricity bills.

This scheme will be implemented by the National Programme Implementation Agency (NPIA) at the national level and state implementation agencies (SIAs) at the state level.

Hence, under this scheme, power distribution companies (discoms) will install rooftop solar units in their respective areas. Vijayanand asked the officials to create widespread awareness among the people about the scheme and ensure that it is utilised by large number of people.

The chief secretary revealed that the government has proposed 100 per cent solarisation to develop Nadimuru village in Kuppam mandal of Chittoor district and Naravaripalle village in Chandragiri mandal of Tirupati district as model solar villages. In addition, a target has been set to develop five villages in each district across the state as model solar villages under the pilot project.

Under the PM Surya Garh Muft Bijli Yojana, the Central government provides a subsidy of 60 per cent of the solar unit cost for systems with a capacity of 2 kilowatts and 40 per cent of the additional system cost for systems between 2 and 3 kilowatts, and up to Rs 78,000 for system up to 3 kilowatts.

The applicant should have a house with a roof suitable for installing solar panels and a valid electricity connection to the house. Steps should be taken to save on electricity bills by installing solar rooftops on various government buildings, schools, colleges and other government buildings in addition to houses. Vijayanand instructed the AP Transco officials to prepare appropriate action plans in coordination with the relevant departments.

The CS said that efforts are on to promote solar power in the agricultural sector under the PM Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthan Mahabhiyaan (PYAM-KUSUM) scheme. Currently, there are 20.17 lakh agricultural electricity connections in the state, while the Central government has allowed the installation of one lakh pump sets at the feeder level.

To continuously monitor the promotion of renewable energy production through solar rooftop installations, the government has formed a state-level coordination committee under the chairmanship of the CS with secretaries and heads of departments of various departments at the state level, and this committee will meet and discuss once in every three months, he said. Earlier, AP Genco managing director K V N Chakradhar Babu explained various guidelines related to the implementation of PM Surya Garh and PM Kusum schemes.