Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced the state government’s new Solar Policy 2024 and said that under this policy all those who will install solar panels on the roof of their homes will not have to pay any electricity bill.

The Delhi CM said that for now electricity is free up to 200 units and half of the bill is charged for up to 400 units while above 400 units full amount of the bill is charged. However, if one installs a solar panel on his residence’s roof, no bill will be charged, regardless of the units consumed.

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Speaking about commercial installations of the solar panels, he said that those who are paying for commercial use of electricity their bills will go down by half if they install solar panels on their commercial units.

Kejriwal, while addressing a press conference here, said that till now the solar policy of 2016 was in force, and was the most progressive policy of the country, he claimed.

The AAP leader also said that in this policy, the shortcomings of the previous policy have been smoothened and it will further benefit the people at a different level by providing monthly incentives based on the number of units generated by the panels they get installed at their premises.

He said that those panels generating up to 3 kw of electricity will be given Rs 3 per unit and accordingly generation based incentives will be provided accordingly to different plans for commercial as well as residential installations such as societies, industry and individual homes and others.

He said that normally a household will be able to earn around Rs 700 to 900 per month if they install solar panels on the rooftop.

The Delhi CM said that the government is working to have 4500 megawatts installed capacity of solar power in the coming three years, out of which DISCOM will get 3750 mega watts from outside.

“As per our calculations and according to the policy , who all will invest the money will recover the same within four years, we have planned it  accordingly, based on the usage of electricity,” the CM said.

He also added that the cost of installation of the panel will not only be covered in four years time by saving money from not paying electricity bills but people will also get return on investment as the panel works for 25 years.

He said as per the earlier policy the incentive used to take time to reach a person, however, this time the incentive will directly be credited to the bank account of the person who installs the solar panel.

As per generation based incentives, housing societies will be given Rs 2  per unit incentive, the CM added

while also informed that there is an option for those also who cannot afford to install panels with their own money, and can do it as a community collective effort and get it done on a common place as per the policy guidelines.

Poor people can also tie up with companies who can install the solar panels for them and have an understanding as per the policy guidelines.

The Delhi CM also said that the government plans to have solar panels on all government buildings in the coming three years whose area is more than 500 square meters.

The Solar Policy-2024 has been designed in 1.5 years with consultation from the stakeholders, added the CM.