Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel announced changes in the 'Gujarat Solar Power Policy-2015' on Thursday to ensure that the MSME (Medium and Small Scale Industries) sector is able to reap benefits of solar energy.
Energy Minister Saurabh Patel said the government has made necessary changes in the policy to ensure its outreach and accessibility for production and use of solar energy by the MSME sector. He said the MSME units in Gujarat, after the amendments in the policy, can now set up solar installations with a capacity of more than 100% compared to the previous limit of 50%.
At present, MSMEs pay Rs 8 per unit for electricity consumption. The new decision will benefit the MSME sector and earn them a profit of Rs 3 per unit. The firms will make a profit of Rs 3.80 per unit if they produce solar energy on their own land, and in case of leased land, they will make a profit of Rs 2.75 per unit.
“Another advantage of this decision is that it will enable MSME units to purchase solar energy from third parties too. The MSMEs will be able to sell excess solar energy to state government at a cost of Rs 1.75 per unit,” the energy minister said.
Rupani said this new initiative will offer a win-win situation to the MSME sector. The government, however, said electricity duty and wheeling charges shall have to be paid by the MSME units as per the existing norms.
The state has decided to cover 8 lakh households by 2022 under the solar rooftop policy. The changes in the solar power policy of 2015 will encourage 33 lakh MSME units towards production and use of green and clean energy, said an official statement.
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