The Uttar Pradesh government will soon be launching an aggressive campaign to install rooftop solar plants in 25,000 households in Varanasi. The timeline of this project is two months.
The central and state government will invest ₹150 crore and ₹75 crore respectively for this ambitious project. The amount will be dispersed as a subsidy on solar panels.
The Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA), will serve as the nodal agency for the project.
“We have already prepared a multi-pronged strategy to achieve the goal of installing 25,000 solar rooftops in Varanasi in just two months as desired by the PMO,” said Anupam Shukla, director, Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA).
UPNEDA has a target of solarizing 250 homes in 100 wards of the city. As per officials, the Remote Sensing Application Centre, Lucknow will help the agency in identifying houses with adequate roof space that is shadow-free, through the use of geospatial technology.
The agency will conduct an extensive publicity campaign to raise awareness among residents about solar energy systems and their benefits.
UPNEDA has planned bulk messaging and the distribution of pamphlets among customers as part of this step. Moreover, The agency will deploy a trained workforce of 500 ‘suryamitras’ in the 100 wards for customer acquisition, creation of radio jingles, advertisements, and cinema hall bytes for faster outreach.
The RE agency is undertaking a multifaceted approach towards the initiative. The government will conduct an extensive publicity campaign to raise awareness among residents about solar energy systems and their benefits.
“Door-to-door outreach programs along with booth camps will be organised for detailed information to customers and applicants to encourage them to install solar rooftops at their buildings,” the official said. “A QR code too has been developed by UPNEDA and the same will be distributed to consumers for easy registration,” adds an official aware of the campaign.
UPNEDA has finalized 100 solar panel vendors, 25 manufacturers and distributors, 5 inverter manufacturers, and 2 net meter manufacturers for the campaign. Additionally, 10 project officers of the agency will be stationed in Varanasi for the next two months to oversee the implementation of the programme.
Moreover, the government has also made arrangements for easy financing for customers and vendors.
Currently, Varanasi has over 3.26 lakh electricity connections and 2.25 lakh households. However, the city has only 588 solar rooftop consumers. If the Varanasi campaign is successful, the UP government plans to launch more such programmes in other cities.
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Resource: Hindustan Times
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