The Centre has envisaged a major plan to boost solar energy and set aside Rs 1,000 crore for subsidising solar power. Interacting with the media after inaugurating a workshop-cum-exhibition on ‘Deployment of Solar Thermal Systems in Northern States’, organised by Punjab Energy Development Agency (Peda) here today, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, Deepak Gupta said that under the National Solar Mission, it was proposed to declare Chandigarh, Amritsar and New Delhi as solar cities where people would be encouraged to harness solar energy by rooftop panels and contribute to the national power grid.
He informed that with a lot of scope in the power sector, the Centre was working out a plan to reduce the cost of solar panels by indigenising them. He said that study was on to produce silicon chips used in panels, indigenously. Emphasising on the effective implementation of solar bye-laws, Gupta said the states should strictly implement the solar bye-laws necessitating every hotel, hostel, hospital, community centre to use solar water heating system. He regretted that lax implementation of solar bye-laws resulted in tardy implementation of the solar plan.
Speaking about future plans in the new energy sector, Gupta said MNRE was also encouraging Independent Power Producers and their task was being facilitated by single window service in the Ministry. He said that MNRE was targeting too produce 1,300-Mw power from new energy sector within next three years.
