No electricity bill for Delhi residents with rooftop solar panels: Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi, January 29

The Delhi Government on Monday announced the launch of Delhi Solar Policy-2024. Under the new policy, residents who install solar panels will have zero electricity bills, no matter how much electricity they consume.

Nothing new: BJP

There is nothing new in this policy. Delhi residents want to ask the CM that once they install solar panels and start producing electricity at home, why would they need free units of electricity. The govt should instead announce 50% subsidy on solar panels. Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, LoP, Delhi Assembly

While announcing the policy, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said consumers, who install solar panels, would earn Rs 700 to Rs 900 every month through the government’s Generation-Based Incentive (GBI).

He said, “Earlier, the policy was introduced in 2016 and was considered the most progressive solar policy in the country. Under the previous policy, 250 MW of solar panel were mounted on the rooftops by individuals.”

He explained that under the new policy a residential consumer’s average monthly consumption is 360 units and the approximate cost of installing a 2 kW rooftop solar plant is Rs 90,000, including taxes and subsidy. The consumer will start getting zero electricity bill right away, leading to savings of Rs 1,370 per month as well as a GBI benefit of around Rs 700 per month.

The incentive has been increased from Rs 2 per unit in the 2016 policy to Rs 3 per unit for domestic consumers with solar panels of capacity 1 kW to 3 kW in Solar Policy-2024. However, residential consumers with solar panels with a capacity of 3 kW to 10 kW will continue to get the incentive of Rs 2 per unit as provided under the Solar Policy-2016, he added.

He said the Delhi Government had decided to extend the GBI for commercial and industrial consumers too for the first time for the initial installations for up to 200 MW.

“They will receive an incentive of Re 1 per unit of solar power generated for five years in addition to the benefits of net metering, roll over of excess units and additional income as described. As a result, an average commercial or industrial consumer in Delhi can save nearly 50 per cent on their existing electricity bill and recover the cost of rooftop panels in four years,” he added.

The CM said group housing societies and residential welfare associations will continue to receive a GBI of Rs 2 per unit of solar power as was the case in the Solar Policy-2016. The government has set a target of 4,500 MW solar power capacity till 2027.

“Besides, 1,250 MW of solar power was purchased by power distribution companies from outside. A total of 1,500 MW electricity was generated through the previous policy, meeting 7.2 per cent of the Delhi’s annual electricity demand,” he stated.

The CM said that in Delhi, electricity is already free for up to 200 units. He said government buildings having an area of 500 square metres should mandatorily have solar panels in the next three years under the Delhi Solar Policy-2024.

Power Minister Atishi said the policy has been approved by the Cabinet and will be notified in 10 days.

Slams Nitish for joining NDA

The Delhi CM also criticised JDU chief Nitish Kumar for joining the BJP-led NDA. He said such conduct was not right for democracy. “This will cause a huge loss to the NDA and instead the INDIA bloc will benefit,” he added.