Government provides subsidy for harnessing solar energy: Farooq Abdullah

The government is providing financial support of 25 to 50 per cent on solar cookers and about 50 to 90 per cent on home lighting systems depending on general/ special category states, including the North East, minister for new and renewable energy Farooq Abdullah informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

He said his ministry has been implementing schemes on solar cookers and solar powered lights for the last several years to help people replace/save gas and kerosene oil. These include box and dish type solar cookers, solar lanterns and solar home lighting systems, he said.

A subsidy of Rs2,400 is also available for solar lanterns in un-electrified villages and hamlets of special category states and union territories/islands, he added.

The ministry provides subsidy for installation of solar home lighting systems in the range of Rs2,500 to Rs8,660 per system, depending upon the system size and state/region of installation.

The schemes promoted by the ministry include solar water heating systems, cookers, air heating systems, steam generating systems and solar photovoltaic lanterns, home lighting systems, street lighting systems, water pumping systems, solar power plants, solar rooftop systems solar traffic lights, etc, he said.

Financial assistance of Rs17,300 per system for installation of solar street lights in North East and special category states and Rs9,600 per system for other states/ union territories in the country is provided. The ministry also provides 2 per cent of the central financial assistance to the programme implementing agencies as service/administrative charges for installation of streetlights in urban areas, he said.