22nd Jan :
PM Shri Modi announce Suryodaya Yojana under which 300
units / month of electricity will be made available to 10 Million “ Poor /
Middle Class “ households
01 Feb :
This was also mentioned in the budget speech of Finance
Minister ( Budget allocation of Rs 10,000 crore )
2nd Feb :
MNRE minister Shri R K Singh announced :
“The
government will bear the entire cost of installing solar rooftop systems as part of the Pradhanmantri
Suryodaya Yojana, which will offer up to 300 kilowatts of power monthly to one
crore low income households.
A low income
household is being identified as one whose monthly electricity consumption is below or up to 300 kilowatts
or unit.
Centre will bear the entire cost of installing rooftop solar
(RTS) systems.
The householder does
not have to go anywhere. The excess units that are generated will be used to
pay for the loan. We calculate that the loan will be paid in 10 odd years
At present, the CPSEs are
in the process of reaching out to such households and carrying out surveys for
available rooftop space. “
13 Feb :
PM launches “ PM Surya
Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana “ . PM said :
Central government will guarantee NO FINANCIAL BURDEN on
the people by providing significant subsidies directly to their bank accounts
and offering highly concessional bank loans
PM Modi posted on X, formerly Twitter :
In order to further sustainable development and people’s
wellbeing, we are launching the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. This project,
with an investment of over Rs. 75,000 crores, aims to light up 1 crore
households by providing up to 300 units of free electricity every month.
In order
to popularise this scheme at the grassroots, Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats
shall be incentivised to promote rooftop solar systems in their jurisdictions.
At the same time, the scheme will lead to more income, lesser power bills and
employment generation for people.
Let’s boost solar power and sustainable progress. I urge all
residential consumers, especially youngsters, to strengthen the PM - Surya
Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana by applying at- https://pmsuryaghar.gov.in
=============================================================
So , what is missing ?
( A ) Cost to Consumer
Ø
Even on the portal , there
is no explicit mention of the amount of the subsidy.
Earlier
it was stated that the total investment would be Rs 125,000 crore. Now it is
estimated at Rs
75,000
crore. This leads me to believe that those 1 crore consumers will have to pay (
by taking out
loans , if required ) , Rs 50,000 crore
Divided by 1 crore installations , this works
out to :
# 3 Kw RTS costing Rs 125,000
# Of this, consumer to pay Rs 50,000 , and REC
/ CPSU / SPVs to subsidize Rs 75,000 ( 60 % )
This is in complete contradiction of the
announcement made by Shri R K Singh on 02 Feb , viz :
“ Centre will bear the entire cost of installing rooftop solar
(RTS) systems.. The householder does
not have to go anywhere “
Dear Modi
Saheb :
In my email
of 28 Jan 2024 ( Suryodaya Yojana ), I had requested you to
give 100 % subsidy to consumers ( totally FREE give-away
), with REC / CPSU / SPVs bearing the entire cost
.
NO need to await
completion of all those formalities and confirmation from Consumer / REC - SPV
/ DISCOM / Installer etc. for transfer of subsidy to consumer’s bank account
I urge you to
consider this request
( B )
Merging of Suryodaya Scheme with National
Clean Cooking Mission
In my
aforementioned e-mail , I had pointed out :
# A family will use only 80 units for
lighting-Fans- Fridge etc, leaving 280 units /
month, un-utilized
# This surplus can easily suffice to power a
1.5 Kw Induction Electric Stoves , 20 lakh of which are currently
under
distribution by EESL
# This utilization will, not only save 12
cylinders/year of subsidized LPG , it will generate enough Carbon
Credits ( to the credit of REC / CPSU / SPVs )
to recover entire investment of Rs 1.5
lakh*crore , within 3
years !
From 4th year onwards, this amount will be
PROFIT for these financiers !
# Cost
of stove will get recovered in just 3 months !
( C ) Incentivizing
DISCOMS
In the latest
announcement , there is no mention of any compensation to DISCOMS for their
loss of revenue
In absence
of this , the scheme is bound to be resisted by DISCOMs . The “ feasibility
approval “ from DISCOM will take months ( I just applied online on the portal
yesterday and will keep you informed when I get that approval – or rejection )
I am afraid
, without reimbursing DISCOMs for loss of revenue , this scheme will be a
non-starter !
( D ) Insufficient Roof
space
In my
earlier blog ( Thanks,
Shri Modiji … 03 Feb 2024 ), I had
pointed out that most buildings in towns / cities, are multi-storied ( 5 – 25 stories
) with 20 – 100 flats
And their
roof area is simply INSUFFICIENT to provide 3 Kw ( 300 sq ft ) RTS
installations for all flats. Roof area is barely enough to provide RTS to 10 %
- 20 % of the flats
Whether
these flats are ownership ( with a Co-op Housing Society ) or rented ( from a
landlord ), it will be impossible to decide ( by whom ? ) , who should get the
RTS – and who will be deprived
To prove my point , I just checked up with a few friends
and found following figures :
|
Family Location
|
Ave Units/Month
|
No of flats in Bldg
|
Terrace Area( Sq ft )
|
@300 sq ft ( 3Kw ),terrace area sufficient
for no of flats
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Andheri
|
450
|
24
|
1500
|
5
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vile Parle
|
500
|
20
|
1500
|
3
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Powai
|
350
|
54
|
3000
|
10
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kandivali
|
350
|
16
|
2200
|
7
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chandivali
|
220
|
49
|
2000
|
7
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Although, in
case of some buildings, it may be STRUCTURALLY possible to extend the roof area
by cantilevered TRUSSES on all 4 sides of the building, it will cause loss of
natural daylight for flats on the top floor – and objected to . Even if agreed
by all the residents , it will take months to get necessary permissions from
the concerned authorities and some more months to carry out the changes
It is for
this reason that in my earlier e-mail I had suggested :
Let REC /
CPSE / SPV , put up large Solar Farms ( 1 GW each ) on Government lands, close
to each town / city
Then feed
that power to the DISCOM catering to that city ( free of cost )
And , in turn , DISCOM to supply that power ( may be adding a very small “
carrying charge “ ) to families living in multi-storied buildings .
And finally :
On the portal , in the REGISTRATION FORM , an applicant is asked to provide
following data :
|
Select your State
|
|
Electric
Distri. Co
|
|
Electric
Consumer No
|
|
Mobile
Number
|
|
E
Mail Id
|
DISCOMs already have this data for each and every consumers ( look up any
monthly Electricity Bill of any DISCOM )
Why ask this data from an applicant ?
In fact, why ask
ANY ONE to “ apply “ in the first place ? To me, it seems totally UNNECESSARY
Every DISCOM has an elaborate DAABASE of its consumers . In matter of seconds , a
search will produce a list of those consumers whose last 12 months average
consumption was LESS THAN 300 UNITS
And since full address of each consumer is also available with the DISCOM ,
it can tabulate for each building :
Ø
Which ( and how many ) consumers are ELIGIBLE for the
scheme
Ø
Which are NOT ELIGIBLE
All that DISCOM has to do is to send out appropriately worded E Mail (
Scheme / Purpose / Funding / Eligibility Criteria / Benefits / Obligations etc ) to the eligible consumers,
requesting them to click :
# Yes , I am interested to avail of
this scheme. Please send someone to my residence to conduct FEASIBILITY study
# No , I am not interested
If a consumer does not have an email id , then a
printed letter can be sent through post, along with next monthly bill and the
customer can be advised about the letter through SMS / Whatsapp ( I presume
that all customers have mobile phones )
Dear Shri Narendrabhai ,
Only
yesterday , while addressing the Global Summit , you spoke about leveraging
technology to effect changes
Surya Ghar
Yojana is a shining example of that proclamation
Implementing
my suggestions will make this yojana , a BENCHMARK for GLOBAL SOUTH
With regards,
Hemen Parekh
www.HemenParekh.ai / 15
Feb 2024
