Small towns beat big cities in rooftop solar adoption
Tier-II and tier-III cities in India are outpacing major metropolitan areas in the adoption of rooftop solar systems under the government's Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. The scheme provides significant subsidies to households to reduce electricity costs and promote renewable energy.
Why it matters
Demonstrates the success of decentralized renewable energy policies in smaller urban centers, contributing to India's broader energy transition goals.
NEW DELHI: What do Lucknow, Nagpur, Surat, Varanasi and Ernakulam districts have in common? These smaller urban centres are contributing to the country's energy transition, with a growing number of households opting for rooftop solar systems to meet their daytime electricity needs and reduce monthly power bills. Surplus power generated during solar hours is fed into the grid and drawn back at night, bringing electricity bills down to zero in many cases.These districts, along with several other tier-II and tier-III centres such as Jalgaon, Amravati and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar in Maharashtra; Junagadh, Mahesana and Bhavnagar in Gujarat; Thrissur, Kollam and Alappuzha in Kerala; and Ganganagar in Rajasthan, are among the top 50 districts in the country for rooftop solar adoption.Interestingly, metropolitan cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata do not figure even among the top 100 districts.
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