On Track To Miss Target

India is unlikely to reach its rooftop solar power generation target of 40 GW by 2022

- Rajan Kalsotra

ABSENCE OF policy could make India miss its solar rooftop pow-er generation target. In 2015, the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced its plan to generate 100 gigawatt (GW) solar power by 2022. Of this, 40 GW was to be through solar rooftop systems. But till March 2017, the country has installed only 0.67 GW of solar rooftop capacity, shows MNRE data (see ‘Slow start’).

To promote the use of renewable energy in buildings, the Union government released model building by-laws and amended the Environmental Impact Assessment (eia) Notification, 2006, in 2016. The eia notification states that all new buildings constructed on above 5,000 sq m built-up area must have at least 1 per cent of the sanctioned load from renewable energy sources. The model building by-laws mandate that all new buildings on plot sizes above 100 sq m need to install solar photovoltaic panels atop buildings.

“But the problem is that all the regulations are for new buildings. Existing buildings or those whose construction started before 2016 are not covered,” says Aruna Kumarankandath, programme manager at Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). On an average, conceptualising, designing, getting approvals/ clearances and construction of buildings takes three to five years. In five years, India would have missed the target it set for itself.