Surat MoU With SECI

The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) plans to support solar power through rooftop solar installed on residential, educational, commercial and industrial buildings in the city. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

The city of Surat is an industrial hub in the state of Gujarat. Together with Rajkot and Gandhinagar, it belongs to the three cities in the state that were selected to become Solar Cities. In total, India will have 55 Solar Cities, as well as around 100 Smart Cities.

According to a report in Indian daily The Indian Express, under the agreement signed between SECI and SMC, the latter will start work on publicising benefits of rooftop solar through various means of communications including social media between September 1 to 5, 2016. Post this, from the third week of September to October 31, SMC will start accepting applications, which will be sent to SECI for execution.

Residential buildings opting for rooftop solar installations are eligible to get a 30% subsidy from the central government and an additional 10% from the state. At the same time, hospitals and educational institutes going solar will get a 30% subsidy from the central government, while commercial and industrial complexes will get a 30% subsidy from the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO).

According to the news report, maintenance and installation work will be done by a third party.

The Gujarat government in April 2016 had announced that it will offer a subsidy of 10,000 INR per kW ($150) to 100,000 residential rooftop solar installations (see Gujarat Rooftop Solar). Gujarat happens to be second in India regarding the highest installed solar power capacity, reaching 1,119.1 MW by April 2016, right behind the state of Rajasthan (1,285.9 MW) (see India’s Installed PV Up By 3.6% In 1 Month).