2015 Solar Subsidy in India

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the nodal Ministry of the Government of
India for all matters relating to new and renewable energy. The broad aim of the Ministry is to
develop and deploy new and renewable energy for supplementing the energy requirements of the
country. By 2022, the Ministry has a target of increasing renewable energy generation capacity in
India by 5 times to 1,75,000 MW. Therefore, in a effort to exceed targets and create an India
powered by clean energy, the MNRE Ministry provides various subsides for setting up solar power
projects. In this article, we review the major solar subsidy in India provided by the Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission

The objective of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) under the brand Solar India
is to establish India as a global leader in solar energy, by creating the policy conditions for its
diffusion across the country as quickly as possible. In order to facilitate grid connected solar power
generation in the first phase, a mechanism of bundling relatively expensive solar power with power
from the unallocated quota of the Government of India (Ministry of Power) generated at NTPC coal
based stations, which is relatively cheaper, has been proposed by the Mission. This bundled power
would be sold to the Distribution Utilities at the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC)
determined prices which are subsidised.

To be eligible for the scheme the project capacity must be at least 5 MW in case of Solar PV Projects
and the maximum capacity of the Project can be up to 20 MW. A Company, including its Parent,
Affiliate or Ultimate Parent-or any Group Company may submit application for a maximum of three
projects at different locations subject to a maximum aggregate capacity of 50 MW.

Click here to know more about the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.
Scheme for Large Scale Grid Connected Roof Top Solar
Power Generation

Acute power shortages in India are making most of the commercial and office establishments to
have diesel generator backup. By setting up the grid interactive solar power plants on the rooftops
would help reduce the
consumption of fossil fuels during the day time when grid power is not available. If the grid power is
continuous, the solar power generated will be utilized along with the grid power and the power
generator would be compensated for the exported power as per policy by the State.

All buildings of the Government, PSUs, commercial establishments, hospitals, cold storages,
warehouses, industries and educational institutions are eligible under this Scheme. Solar power
generation with project size between 100 kW to 500 kW is eligible. The building owner in which
the solar roof top system is setup would be required to meet 70% of the project cost in lieu of benefit
of electricity at free of cost. MNRE provides subsidy of 30% of the system cost to the developer to
whom the project has been allocated.

Click here to know more about the Scheme for Large Scale Grid Connected Roof Top
Solar Power Generation.
Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar
Power Projects

The scheme for development of solar parks and ultra mega solar power projects aims to provide a
huge impetus to solar energy generation by acting as a flagship demonstration facility to encourage
project developers and investors, prompting additional projects of similar nature, triggering
economies of scale for cost-reductions, technical improvements and achieving large scale
reductions in GHG emissions.

All the States and Union Territories are eligible for benefitting under the scheme. The solar parks will
be developed in collaboration with the State Governments and their agencies. Solar Energy
Corporation of India (SECI) would be MNREs Agency for handling this Scheme. Under this scheme,
Central Financial Assistance of Rs.25 lakhs per solar park is provided for the Detailed Project Report
preparation, conducting surveys,etc., Further, Central Financial Assistance of upto Rs.20 lakhs or
30% of the project cost, including grid-connectivity cost, whichever is lower is provided by the MNRE
fore each MW.

Click here to know more about the Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra
Mega Solar Power Projects.
Scheme for Setting up 300MW of Solar PV Power Projects by
Defence Establishments

The scheme for setting up of over 300MW of grid-connected and off-grid solar PV power projects by
Defence Establishments aims to promote ecologically sustainable growth and to utilise available
land/rooftop of Defence sector for achieving energy security. The solar power plants setup under this
scheme will need to be domestic manufactures in order to boost indigenous production of solar cells
and modules.

The 300MW of Solar PV Power Project can be setup by various establishments of Ministry of
Defence i.e., Establishments of Army, Navy, Air Force, Ordnance Factory Board, Defence
Laboratories and Defence Public Sector Undertakings. Para Military Forces coming under the
Ministry of Home Affairs are also covered under this scheme. Each project capacity shall be atleast
1MW and the maximum capacity of the Project shall be upto 20MW. The scheme envisages a
provision of viability gap funding support of Rs.750 crores for setting up of grid connected solar PV
power projects in developer mode or EPC mode.

Click here to know more about the scheme for Solar Power Projects by Defence
Establishments.
Scheme for Setting up 1000MW Solar PV Power Projects by
Central Public Sector Undertakings

The scheme for setting up of over 1000MW of grid-connected solar PV power projects by Central
Public Sector Undertakings and Government of India Organizations aims to setup power projects
under Government of India Organizations.

Under this scheme, Central Public Sector Undertakings and Government of India organizations can
setup grid-connected solar PV power projects under various model including Central/State Scheme,
Self-Use, 3rd part sale or merchant sale. The solar projects setup under this scheme are mandatorily
required to procure cells and modules which are domestically manufactured. For this scheme,
central financial assistance in the form of viability gap funding at a fixed rate of upto Rs. 1 crore per
MW would be provided.