Gujarat tops in rooftop solar with 84% of country's installations

Overall, only a third of India's residential rooftop solar capacity has been installed

Gujarat has not only taken the lead in creating India’s first solar-powered village, but a Business Standard analysis shows the state also leads the country in installing rooftop solar capacity for residential buildings.

Data shows that the state accounted for 84 per cent of the country’s total rooftop installation for residential buildings under the government’s Rooftop Solar Programme Phase II. This programme targets capacity addition of 4000 Mw rooftop solar (RTS) through Central Financial Assistance (CFA) in residential sectors, including for rural households.  Guidelines for the programme were issued in August 2019. The programme was extended on October 6 until 2026.

Of the 1,385 Mw rooftop solar capacity installed on residential buildings across the country, Gujarat had installed 1,167 Mw.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared Modhera in Gujarat the country’s first round-the-clock solar-powered village.

The track record for the rest of the country has been dismal. Until June, only 34.6 per cent of the target was met.

Besides Gujarat, no other state has installed a capacity of more than 50 Mw. Kerala, until June 30, had an installed capacity of 39.6 Mw, followed by Rajasthan at 36.5 Mw.

  

In response to the queries raised by the departmental standing committee, the ministry indicated that just 5.87 Gw of solar rooftop capacity had been installed against the government’s target of 40Gw.

Further analysis shows that Gujarat accounted for 43.4 per cent of the projects allocated to the state distribution companies (discoms) under the Rooftop Solar Programme Phase II, with Maharashtra accounting for 14.2 per cent share. No other state had a double-digit share in allocation.

Besides the rooftop solar scheme, the government’s performance in the overall solar targets has been lagging. The actual expenditure has consistently been below the budgeted targets over the last five years. Just over half of the funds allocated for solar schemes have been utilised.

Consequently, capacity additions have also lagged government targets. Of the 44.5 Gw capacity targeted by the government between 2017-18 and 2021-22, only 63 per cent had been installed by the government.

The government has achieved half of its 100Gw target for solar capacity installation by 2022.

It now has a target to install 280Gw of solar capacity by 2030.