Vijayawada: The chief secretary K Vijayanand has directed the authorities of power distribution companies and non-conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited (NREDCAP) to collectively achieve the target of providing three lakh rooftop solar connections by the end of June. He said that each discom is assigned with a target of 75,000 connections, while NREDCAP will also execute 75,000 connections. Vijayanand took stock of the progress of the rooftop solar connections targets and progress with the senior officials here on Thursday. He instructed that a detailed action plan be submitted immediately for effective monitoring of the progress. He said that he would review the progress on a weekly basis and emphasised the importance of creating widespread public awareness about the PM Surya Ghar, Muft Bijli Yojana. He advised officials to take up targeted outreach activities.The chief secretary said that the state is leading India’s clean energy transition by actively promoting rooftop solar installations. He said that chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu set an ambitious target of installing 20 lakh rooftop solar units by the end of 2025 and it should be achieved at any cost. He also stressed the need to widely publicise PM Surya Ghar among SC and ST beneficiaries as setting up two-kilowatt rooftop units will be entirely free for them as per the scheme. He also urged to create awareness among Backward Class (BC) households, as govt is offering a total subsidy of 80,000, comprising 60,000 from the Centre and an additional 20,000 from state govt towards the total rooftop solar installation cost of 1.2 lakh under the PM Surya Ghar scheme. He directed that one model village should be developed in each district making a total of 26 villages statewide as demonstration sites for effective implementation of the scheme. He also stressed the need for discoms and NREDCAP to coordinate with banks to establish formal tie-ups specifically for the execution of these model villages.Vijayanand said that state received about 12.1 lakh registrations on the PM Surya Ghar portal. APEPDCL received 85,711applications and APCPDCL recorded 5.3 lakh registrations while APSPDCL registered 5.9 lakh applications. He asked the discoms CMDs to put in all-out efforts to achieve the set PM Surya Ghar targets before the scheduled timelines, emphasising the importance of timely and efficient execution.The chief secretary said that around 5.9 lakh SC/ST households have been identified for coverage under this initiative, with a projected rooftop solar capacity of 1,174 MWp and an expected annual power generation of 1,743 million units.“Each eligible household will be provided with a 2 kWp rooftop solar system, which is to be commissioned within six months from the issuance of the letter of award (LOA). The systems will also be maintained at no cost to the beneficiaries for a period of five years”, he added. Prudhvi Tej, CMD/APEPDCL, K Santosha Rao, CMD/APSPDCL, and P Pulla Reddy CMD/APCPDCL were present at the review meeting.
