NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary panel today said the rooftop solar target of 40 GW by 2022 is "unrealistic" and it needs to be "reconsidered".
"The Committee feels that the rooftop solar target of 40 GW by 2022 is unrealistic and it is highly unlikely that this target will be achieved," the Standing Committee on Energy (2016-17) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said in its latest report tabled in Parliament today. The panel further said the Centre should give the scheme a "serious relook", else, it will derail the target achievement of the National Solar Mission.
"The Committee, therefore, recommends that the target of 40 GW through rooftop solar projects should be reconsidered," the report said.
The panel was of the view that rooftop systems were not remunerative for the consumers on account of maintenance costs being high, the report said. "The Committee noted that out of the 100 GW solar power, 40 GW is to be achieved from grid connected solar rooftops in residential, social, institutional and government sectors in the country," it said.
The government had earlier announced raising the solar power generation capacity addition target by five times to 1,00,000 MW by 2022, which will entail an investment of around Rs 6 lakh crore.