‘SARAL’- State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index launched by Power Minister
RK Singh, Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy (IC) launched SARAL-State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index during Review Planning and Monitoring (RPM) Meeting with States and State Power Utilities, held in New Delhi. SARAL evaluates Indian states based on their attractiveness for rooftop development. Karnataka has been placed at 1st rank in Index followed by Telangana, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh which got 2nd, 3rd and 4th rank respectively.
SARAL: State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index
It is the 1st of its kind index to provide a comprehensive overview of state-level measures adopted to facilitate rooftop solar deployment.
Designed by: The Index has been designed by Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in collaboration with Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF), Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and Ernst & Young (EY).
5 key aspects captured by SARAL –
- Robustness of Policy Framework
- Consumer Experience
- Implementation Environment
- Business Ecosystem
- Investment Climate
SARAL encourages each state to assess initiatives taken so far and to improve its solar rooftop ecosystem. This will help states to channelize investments and will create a more conducive environment for solar rooftop installations, encourage investment and will eventually lead to accelerated growth of sector.
Significance: Power Ministry has set a target to operationalize 175 giga watt (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2022, of which 100 GW solar power to be operational by March 2022 and 40 GW (out of 100 GW) is expected to come from grid connected solar rooftops. Therefore, launching the Index would incentivise rooftop solar by creating healthy competition among States and all States would be encouraged to adopt best practices being followed by top-ranking States.
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Month: Current Affairs - August, 2019