MNRE Amends Rules For Solar Mini-Grid Installations In TribalArea

In a notification released on March 26, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy(MNRE)amended the dedicated scheme aimed at electrification of unelectrifiedhouseholds belonging to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). This initiativewas launched under the Pradhan Mantri janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PMJANMAN) on january 4th.

According to the original notification released by MNRE earlier this year, the ministryobtained approval from the President to implement the new scheme from 2023-24 to2025-26. The ministry's objective was to electrify 1 lakh households in PVTG areasacross 18 Indian states. Recently, an additional provision was announced in theMNRE notification released on january 4th, this provision was introduced followingrequests from states and implementing agencies. These requests urged thegovernment to include household electrification under the scheme by installing solarmini-grids through the CAPEX mode. This latest amendment specified, “The Mini-Gridcan be installed through CAPEX and RESCO mode with the central financial assistance(CFA)."

The revised provision for mini-grid installation now includes both CAPEX and RESCOmodes, with the provided CFA limited to 50,000 per household. Additionally, the newprovision permits implementing agencies to receive extra funds under the CAPEXmode from the state government, if necessary.

The scheme was introduced to cover electrification of One Lakh un-electrifiedhouseholds (HHs) in PVTG areas identified by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) andlocated in 18 tates, namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat,Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha.Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and WestBengal, and UT of Andaman & Nicobar lslands, by provision of off-grid solar systemswhere electricity supply through grid is not techno-economically feasible," the noticefrom MNRE said.

In addition, the scheme also included provisions for providing solar lighting in 1500Multi-Purpose Centres (MPCs) in PVTG areas where electricity through the grid is notavailable. As per the scheme's provisions, there are two components. This included aprovision of 0.3 KW of solar off-grid systems for 1 lakh PVTF households, where theUnion government will share 100 percent of the total cost. As per the plan, eachhousehold will need Rs 50,000 under the component. The approved financial outlayfor the component stands at Rs 500 crore.