PM Suryodaya Yojana will help in self-sufficiency in country's energy needs

Soon after the historic inauguration of Shri Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the epoch-making event this year, Prime Minister Modi announced the launch of a new scheme, Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana, to install solar rooftop systems on one crore houses in India. Prime Minister Modi said, “All the devotees of the world always get energy from the light of Suryavanshi Lord Shri Ram; today, on the auspicious occasion of consecration in Ayodhya, my resolution got further strengthened that the people of India should have their own solar rooftop system on the roof of their houses.” This will not only reduce the electricity bills for the poor and middle class but also contribute to making India self-reliant in the energy sector, he said.

 

In furtherance of PM’s above announcement, FM Nirmala Sitharaman in the interim budget of 2024 announced a financial allocation for solar initiatives with a substantial rise to Rs 10,000 crore for the fiscal year 2024-25, marking a 110% increase from the revised estimates of Rs 4,757 crore. Every month, free electricity of up to 300 units will be provided under the Centre’s proposed rooftop solarization scheme. It is estimated that the project will help these households save between Rs 15,000 and Rs 18,000 annually and allow them to sell their surplus electricity to DISCOMS. Under rooftop installation, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are fixed atop a building, home, or a residential property. The state-run Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) Limited would be the designated nodal agency for the project.

India is the world’s fifth-largest economy, racing to move up to third within the next three years, and energy needs are rising correspondingly. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the India Energy Week (IEW) on February 6 in Goa, PM Modi announced an investment of $67 billion in India’s energy sector over the next five years. India is already the third largest energy consumer in the world, and India’s primary energy demand will double by 2045. He asserted that India’s solar installed capacity has risen by over 20 times over the decade. Energy transmission involves costs and losses, and solar power has the advantage of being spread, localized, and clean.

India is blessed with equatorial proximity and being the seventh-largest country in the world with a landmass around 3.28 million sq. km., it receives a good amount of exposure to the sun for the major part of the year. PM Modi announced that the country will produce 50% of its energy needs through non-fossil fuels by the end of this decade. The vision of "One Sun One World One Grid" which is based on the idea that "The Sun Never Sets" had also been advocated by PM Modi. The National Solar Mission has been a landmark initiative of the Government in this regard.

The government has launched several schemes for the generation of solar power like the Solar Park Scheme, VGF Schemes, CPSU Scheme, Defence Scheme, Canal bank & Canal top Scheme, bundling Scheme, Grid Connected Solar Rooftop Scheme etc. According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MoNRE), solar power installed capacity in India has reached around 73.31 GW as of December 2023.

India together with France set up the International Solar Alliance (ISA), an alliance of more than 120 signatory countries (https://shorturl.at/fpY36), most being sunshine countries. The primary objective of the alliance is to work for the efficient consumption of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. This initiative was first proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2015 in which he referred to sunshine countries as Suryaputra ("Sons of the Sun").

In India, the private sector also contributed significantly to the solar power generation. The most prominent among them include Adani Green and Adani Solar projects, which emerged as one of the top three global companies in solar energy, with a total portfolio of over 2148 MW, Adani Green Energy was ranked second in Mercom Capital's Leading Global Large-Scale Solar PV Developers Report released recently. Their largest Gujarat Hybrid Renewable Energy Park, in Khavda, near salt district of Kutch in Gujarat, is expected to generate 30 gigawatt electricity from both solar panels and wind turbines when completed, spread over an area of 726 sq km (280 sq miles), about as large as Singapore. It is indeed a pivotal moment for India to have world’s largest renewable energy project (https://shorturl.at/oGMOT), which will be so big that it will be visible from space!

Adani Solar took up to build the world's first fully integrated 10 GW solar manufacturing ecosystem in Mundra SEZ in Gujarat by 2027. The plant, the group's largest, will establish a complete solar production ecosystem - from metallurgical grade Silicon to Photo-Voltaic (PV) modules, inclusive of all ancillaries and supporting utilities, strategically co-located for maximum efficiency. It will be a big support in building India’s ambitious solar power production and reducing import needs to achieve self-sufficiency.

There is no doubt that Prime Minister Modi’s recent historic scheme, Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana, will go a long way in providing self-sufficiency in India’s burgeoning energy needs, drawing power from the Sun which sustains our entire planet, focusing on renewables and benefiting poor and medium households.

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(Dhanendra Kumar is formerly Executive Director at the World Bank for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan, Former Secretary to Govt., First Chairman Competition Commission of India. He is currently Chairman of Competition Advisory Services LLP)