PMSY scheme: Districts set to compete for model solar village funds

Centre rolls out guidelines under PM Surya Ghar Yojana with grant of Rs 1 crore per village

In a novel move, the Centre will put villages through a “challenge” to select them as Model Solar Villages and provide a grant under the newly launched PM Surya Ghar Yojana (PMSY) scheme.

The scheme launched earlier this year has three components for increasing off-grid solar solutions – residential buildings, commercial/industrial/government buildings, and Model Solar Villages.

The recent guidelines by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) are aimed at creating one Model Solar Village in each district of the country. The MNRE has allocated Rs 800 crore for this with a provision of central financial assistance of Rs 1 crore per model village.

According to the guidelines, a Model Solar Village will go through a challenge.

“Under this mode, villages in a district shall be mobilised for installing distributed solar installations, especially under PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana and other government schemes such as PM-KUSUM,” it said. PM KUSUM is another scheme of the Centre aimed at solarising agriculture in rural areas.

 After the challenge period is over, the villages will be assessed on the total distributed renewable capacity installed within the revenue border of the village and the village with the highest capacity (cumulative) in the village boundary shall be chosen as the Model Solar Village for that district, the guidelines said.

 Once the villages are selected, they will be given the grant under the scheme. The guidelines further said the funds should be aimed at making the village self-sufficient for all electricity needs on a 24x7 basis. “This may include meeting the power requirements of agricultural, residential, commercial, and government sectors. In case the mobilised funds are insufficient, the village should strive to achieve net zero status for electricity needs, i.e. electricity generated from RE sources placed equivalent to the electricity consumed by the village on an annualised basis,” it said.

 Modhera, under the Mehsana district in Gujarat, is the first and only Model Solar Village in the country. The village has round-the-clock solar power and the residents pay no electricity bill. The project was jointly funded by the Centre and the Gujarat state government. It came up before the launch of PMSY.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13 this year announced a new scheme with an outlay of Rs 75,000 crore for installing rooftop solar panels on 10 million households. Announcing the scheme, Modi on his social media handles said, “From substantive subsidies, which will be given directly to people’s bank accounts, to heavily concessional bank loans, the Central government will ensure that there is no cost burden on the people. All stakeholders will be integrated into a National Online Portal which will further convenience.”

The National Portal which is now being spearheaded by the state-owned financier REC Ltd already has 20 banks and non-banking financial institutions that will lend to households seeking solar rooftops. Apart from this, eight public sector utilities (PSUs) under the aegis of the power ministry will take forward this scheme in several states. The subsidy under PMSY would be 60 per cent of the total project cost and the balance would be loan. Power ministry officials said the loan would need not be taken by the household but by the PSU implementing the project. 

 For the Model Solar Village, a District Level Committee (DLC) will be formed and entrusted with monitoring and coordination of the scheme. Panchayats will be roped in for mobilisation and awareness campaigns, according to the guidelines. “The panchayat shall also aim to leverage available vendor networks and connect prospective beneficiaries to banks to maximise solar technologies adoption in general and rooftop solar adoption under the scheme in particular,” it said.

GRAPHIC POINTERS

·       Model Solar Village scheme aims to meet electricity requirements of a village completely through solar power

·       Rs 800 crore allocated for this component under the Rs 75,000 crore PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSY)  

·       Villages to compete to receive PMSY funds. A village per district to participate.

·       Districts to identify eligible villages, draft plan for solarisation

·       Rs 1 crore to be given to selected Model Solar Villages