Nearly four years after the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced a subsidy for those opting to install rooftop solar panels, citizens of Bengaluru can finally reap the benefits of the programme.
Bescom, the implementing agency in the city, had failed to empanel vendors, denying citizens the benefit of the programme even though it had received close to 1,200 applications. Now, Bescom has finally revamped the application portal and empanelled seven vendors who will provide the services.
“There was confusion over the implementation as the guidelines and allocations kept changing. Also, we could not get a suitable vendor even after calling tenders four times. Hence, the process was delayed,” a senior official from Bescom’s Demand Side Management division said.
With seven vendors on board, interested citizens can log on to a dedicated single window portal (https://srtpv.bescom.org/ SRTPV/) to register themselves. The portal was revamped and started operations a week ago.
Once the application is uploaded, the beneficiaries are allowed to select a vendor following which the vendor will conduct a survey of the property and the requirements. The vendor is directed to submit a feasibility report to Bescom following which Bescom will give the approval to begin the project.
While the consumers using Bescom’s portal will have to pay the vendor only the amount after the subsidy, those using the MNRE portal will have to pay the complete amount as the subsidy is directly credited to their bank accounts.
The 1,200 applicants who had applied for the scheme since 2019 have now been notified to choose the vendor.
Kochu Shankar, a resident of Horamavu, who had applied for the subsidy in 2019, said that the implementation will help many households. "Solar rooftops provide clean energy and are also financially viable. We are happy that Bescom has finally chosen the vendors and started implementing the scheme for which many of us were waiting,” he said.
The MNRE had in March 2019 announced the ‘Soura Gruha Yojana’ and entrusted the responsibility to the escoms to act as the nodal agencies. According to the MNRE guidelines, the consumers are given a 40 per cent subsidy for up to 3kW installation and a 20 per cent subsidy for installations above 3kW.
Bengaluru has a huge potential to use solar energy to power houses with many citizens interested in moving to cleaner forms of energy.
According to an estimate by Bescom, since 2014, consumers have set up solar rooftops accounting for 175.259 MW even without the subsidy. Bescom, on its end, has been successful in setting up another 4 MW.
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