Pradhan Mantri Suryaghar Muft Bijalee Yojana: Maha govt achieves 100-day target in 82 days

Mumbai, Feb 27 (IANS) The state-run Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (Mahavitaran) has achieved the target of increasing the number of beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Suryaghar Muft Bijalee Yojana (PMSMBY) to more than one and a half lakh and increasing the total power generation capacity to 500 MW in 82 days.

It was one of the targets set in the first 100 days of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s government, informed Mahavitaran Chairman and Managing Director Lokesh Chandra here on Thursday.

Chandra said that after Fadnavis took oath as Chief Minister on December 5 last year, 100-day targets have been set for various departments to be achieved till March 16, 2025.

“The total number of houses benefiting from the PMSMBY in the state was 71,437 on December 6 last year and their total capacity was 283 MW. The target of increasing the total number of houses to 1.25 lakh and the total power generation capacity to 500 MW was set in the 100-day campaign. On February 26, the number of beneficiary houses of the scheme in the state had reached 1,28,470 and the total capacity was 500 MW. The 100-day target of this scheme was achieved in 82 days. Earlier, Mahavitaran had fulfilled the 100-day target of increasing the number of solar agriculture pumps installed under Magel Tyala Saur Krishi Pump Yojana to more than 1.5 lakh in 60 days,” he said.

Chandra said that rooftop solar plants were installed on 57,033 households in 82 days. So far, a total subsidy of Rs 800 crore has been given directly to the accounts of the beneficiary families in the state under the scheme.

Nagpur district, which is the home district of CM Fadnavis and union minister Nitin Gadkari, has secured the first position in the state in taking advantage of the PMSMBY. The number of beneficiary households in Nagpur has now reached 21,027.

Nagpur, is followed by districts as Pune (9875 houses), Jalgaon (9489 houses), Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (8814 houses), Nashik (8558 houses), Amravati (7119 houses), Kolhapur (6291 houses), Dhule (4187 houses) and Solapur (4007 houses).

Under the PMSMBY, electricity is generated by installing roof-top solar plants on houses. For this, the central government provides a subsidy of Rs 30,000 for one kilowatt, Rs 60,000 for two kilowatts and Rs 78,000 for a three-kilowatt project, depending on the capacity of the rooftop solar project. The maximum subsidy is Rs 78,000.

Mahavitaran provides free net meters to beneficiaries. Since the rooftop solar power project generates more electricity than the household requirement, the electricity bill becomes zero. The excess electricity generated is sold to Mahavitaran.

–IANS

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