CURATED BY – GAURAV SINGHAL | CITYCHIEFNEWS

Saharanpur, As per the instructions of District Magistrate Manish Bansal, better work is being done towards mandatory installation of solar rooftop plants on all government and semi-government buildings of the district. As a result, 758 kW rooftop solar plants have been installed on 49 buildings. In the next 02 months, solar plants will be installed on 52 buildings on capex mode and on 14 buildings on resco mode. He has directed all the officers to complete the necessary action as soon as possible in installing solar rooftop plants. DM Manish Bansal said that on one hand, the installation of solar rooftop plants will reduce government expenditure and on the other hand, there will also be environmental protection. Along with saving electricity, carbon emissions will also be reduced. Along with increasing security, departments will also be able to earn income on more production. District Magistrate Manish Bansal gave strict instructions on non-receipt of information from Gram Panchayat, Education, Municipal Bodies, Sugarcane, Excise, Divisional Transport Office, Uttar Pradesh Transport Corporation to ensure that the information is made available to PO NEDA office as soon as possible. He said that December 2025 has been set by the government for this work but the district will be saturated in setting up solar rooftop plants before the stipulated time. He told that there are 02 types of options available for setting up solar rooftop plants. As the first option, the department can set up solar rooftop plants in capex mode from its budgetary resources. As the second option, solar rooftop plants can be installed by the department through RESCO mode. Under the capex mode, about 9 square meters of feasible rooftop area is required for the installation of solar rooftop plant per kilowatt in those buildings which are yet to be solarized and according to this, a plant of equivalent or lesser capacity than the approved total electrical load of the building can be installed. In capex mode, the financial expenditure incurred for setting up the plant will be borne entirely by the concerned department. In RESCO mode, the department will not have to bear any financial expenditure in installing solar rooftop on its government building. Its entire capital expenditure will be borne by UPNEDA through the empanelled vendor. The minimum load of the government building should be 25 kW and maximum load should be 2000 kW. In RESCO mode, the monthly bill will be payable to the RESCO developer on the basis of tariff of electricity produced from solar rooftop and electricity consumed. UPNEDA will charge Rs. 4.90 per unit for 25 kW to 200 kW and Rs. 4.85 per unit for more than 200 kW to 2000 kW. The tariff is much lower than the tariff of the electricity department. Installing solar rooftop plant in RESCO mode ensures financial savings for the departments as well as environmental protection. Net metering facility is permissible on all government and semi-government buildings. In case of excess solar power generation, it can be stored/sold in the grid, which will be purchased by the electricity department. District Magistrate Manish Bansal said that all the department heads of the district were directed to provide information on the prescribed format regarding installation of solar rooftop plants on government and semi-government buildings, in view of which information and proposal regarding the subject matter were provided to UPNEDA by the concerned departments on the prescribed format. According to the work order issued under CAPEX mode, work orders have been issued for 26 kW offgrid at Ayushman Arogya Mandir, 10 kW ongrid at Tehsil Nakur, 40-40 kW ongrid at ITI Deoband and Sarsawa, 02 kW ongrid at Vikas Khand Baliyakhedi, 02 kW ongrid at Vikas Khand Gangoh, 04 kW ongrid at Vikas Khand Nakur, 04 kW ongrid at Vikas Khand Rampur Maniharan, 05 kW ongrid at Vikas Khand Sarsawa. Under RESCO mode, 205 kW ongrid has been installed at District Women Hospital, 100 bed MCH wing, 375 kW ongrid at District Hospital and 1000 kW ongrid at Government Medical College. DM Manish Bansal informed that in CAPEX mode, proposals for 10 community health centres located in the district for 222.5 kilowatts, 05 buildings of Executive Engineer, Upper Section Eastern Yamuna Canal for 35 kilowatts, Public Works Department inspection building for 10 kilowatts, secondary school for 25 buildings for 180 kilowatts, Government Blind Girls School, Rampur Maniharan for 15 kilowatts, Panchayat building for 25 kilowatts, Deputy Labor Commissioner, Office for 07 kilowatts, Executive Engineer Tubewell Section Saharanpur for 03 kilowatts, Divisional Forest Officer for 05 buildings for 13 kilowatts, Land Conservation Officer Saharanpur for 04 kilowatts have been received and sent to UPNEDA. In RASCCO mode, proposals for 590 kilowatts have been received for 11 community health centres located in the district, 50 kilowatts for Public Works Department and 31 kilowatts for Tehsil Behat.