In Short : The Delhi Cabinet has approved a ₹30,000 subsidy for 3 kW rooftop solar panels on homes, in addition to ₹78,000 from the Centre under the PM Surya Ghar scheme. With total aid of ₹1.08 lakh, residents can install solar panels at zero upfront cost, saving up to ₹4,200 monthly. The initiative targets 2.3 lakh homes in three years.
In Detail : New Delhi – The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved a subsidy of Rs 30,000 for installing 3 kilo-watt (KW) residential solar panels, enabling residents to save Rs 4,200 per month under the Prime Minister Surya Ghar Yojana.
With this, the total subsidy has now increased to Rs 1.08 lakh, which is the highest support offered in the country under any such scheme so far.
Under the Prime Minister Surya Ghar Yojana, people used to receive a Rs 78,000 subsidy for installing solar panels at residential units. Now, the Cabinet has approved subsidy of Rs 10,000 per KW that comes to Rs 30,000 when a 3 KW solar panel is installed.
A budgetary allocation of Rs 50 crore has been earmarked for this scheme. Under this, rooftop solar panels are to be installed at 2.3 lakh residential units in the next three years.
In an attempt to make solar energy more affordable and accessible to people, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced that the Delhi government is partnering with financial institutions to offer easy loans for financing the remaining installation cost of solar panels upto 3 KW capacity of around Rs 90,000. This will enable people to install solar panels without making any advance payment. She said this new system will provide consumers access to solar energy at zero initial cost and will save an average of Rs 4,200 on electricity bills every month. This is a transformational step towards a green and clean Delhi, the CM added.
Gupta further said that the Cabinet has approved a comprehensive cleanliness and dust control scheme for Delhi. Under the Dust Control Plan to Combat Air Pollution, state-of-the-art machines will be procured and deployed to reduce dust and pollution on the roads.
Around 250 water sprinkler machines (equipped with anti-smog guns), 70 mechanical road sweeping machines (equipped with 210 sprinklers and anti-smog guns), 18 dump vehicles and 18 water tankers will be deployed on Delhi roads before winter.
These machines will be funded by the environment department under the “Pollution Control and Emergency Measures” scheme, she said adding, these machines will be deployed specifically for cleaning the dust of the roads and can be used across Delhi as per requirement so that there can be an overall improvement in air quality.
In a further decision in this regard, the Cabinet has approved a proposal of the Directorate of Education to rename ‘Chief Minister Scholarship Scheme’ for meritorious students as ‘Lal Bahadur Shastri Scholarship Scheme’. She said in 2019–20, this scheme was discontinued and renamed as ‘Chief Minister Scholarship Scheme’ and the government has now restored the original name of this scheme while leaving the eligibility criteria unchanged.
Under this scheme, students from classes 7 to 12, who study in government schools of Delhi and score 80% or above in the previous class, are provided a scholarship of 2,500 per year.
