In line with the government’s commitment of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, the interim Budget has rolled out a number of green initiatives providing incentives for solar and wind energy.
Read More:- Budget 2024: Centre-Proposes Rs 75,000 Crore Interest-Free Loan To States For ‘Viksit Bharat’
The most important among them is the rooftop solarisation scheme, under which 10 million households will be enabled to receive up to 300 units of electricity free every month. This follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of the ‘Suryodaya Yojana’ on January 22.
“Households will be able to save Rs 15,000-18,000 annually from free solar electricity and selling the surplus to distribution companies,” the finance minister said.
The scheme will also create employment opportunities for youth with technical skills in manufacturing, installation and maintenance, and entrepreneurship opportunities for supply and installation vendors.
“The initiatives aimed at promoting rooftop solarisation signal a strategic framework to leverage India’s substantial residential market for renewable energy adoption,” Sharad Pungalia, MD & CEO, Amplus Solar, said.
The government will also provide viability gap funding for harnessing offshore wind energy potential for an initial capacity of 1 GW.
Compared to onshore, offshore projects are costlier from a cost of energy perspective. “The VGF announced in this year’s Budget will aid in lowering power generation costs to ensure power offtake from these projects, as well as instill confidence among wind players towards investing in offshore technologies,” Devansh Jain, executive director, INOXGFL Group, said.
Read More:- Budget 2024: Nirmala Sitharaman Gives Her Shortest Speech at 58 Minutes; No Change in Income Tax Slab
The government has increased outlay for solar power (grid) to `8,500 crore in FY25, against Rs 4,757 crore allocated in FY24, revised estimates show. Allocation under the Green Hydrogen Mission has been budgeted at Rs 600 crore in FY25, against \Rs 100 crore in FY24.
“Announcements on viability gap funding for offshore wind energy and allocations for solar rooftop projects will support development of the whole industry,” Sumant Sinha, founder, chairman and CEO at ReNew, said. “The announcement of the corpus of Rs 1 trillion for R&D in sunrise sectors sets a positive tone for the future, encouraging us to accelerate our investments and innovations in renewable energy technologies.”
However, industry players feel that supply chains for solar modules, too, could have been relaxed for better achievement of renewable energy goals.
“While the demand market has been incentivised, relaxations in import taxes would have parallelly helped generators achieve the targets associated with the rise in energy demand till local manufacturing stabilises,” Pungalia said.
The government has also announced financial assistance for procurement of biomass aggregation machinery to support collection while mandating the phased blending of compressed biogas in compressed natural gas for transport and piped natural gas for domestic purposes.
The decision is expected to benefit the entities in the city gas distribution sector through lower dependency on imported LNG, Girishkumar Kadam, senior vice president and group head – corporate ratings, Icra, said.
Read More:- Government Announces Ambitious Plan To Bolster Electric Vehicle Ecosystem
The government has announced setting up of coal gasification and liquefaction capacity of 100 million tonne by 2030 to further reduce imports of natural gas, methanol and ammonia.
