Sun Burnt

In a panic to meet its solar energy target Karnataka changed its policy. The move has almost destroyed the initiative.

- Sridhar Sekar

THE THOUGHT behind Karnataka’s move was noble, but the execution was shoddy. When the state announced its solar policy on May 22, 2014, and declared that its target was to produce 400 MW of power from rooftop solar panels by 2018, the decision was hailed as ambitious but praiseworthy. It, however, did not make much impact. In December 2015, the state government changed the policy and opened up the sector. Within just five months, it signed agreements for installing solar panels to produce 1,556 MW. But the decision also generated controversies, court cases and discontent among the public.

Karnataka has five power distribution companies, or discoms, that are allowed to sign power purchase agreements (ppas) with anyone who wants to install rooftop solar panels and sell the power produced to the grid. Realising that ppas for only 5 MW had been signed since the policy was announced, the state government issued a notification on December 10, 2015, which said that ppas can even be signed for buildings that are “under construction”. The rate at which power can be sold to the grid was kept at R9.56 per unit, as per an order issued in October 2013. The rate was the highest in the country at that time. As a result, by May 2016 the state received 5,631 proposals for ppas, of which 3,494 were signed. However, power production under most of them has not started, and on September 23, 2016, the total installed rooftop solar power capacity of the state was just 19.36 MW.

Blame game