Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved a subsidy of `30,000 on the installation of 3kW rooftop solar panels. The Cabinet also approved the procurement of litter machines, anti-smog guns, mechanical road sweepers and water sprinklers as part of its pollution control measures. In a major push toward renewable energy, the Cabinet approved an enhanced subsidy of `30,000 (`10,000 per kW) for residential rooftop solar installations. With this, the total subsidy now reaches `1.08 lakh, the highest under any such initiative to date.
Aimed at encouraging clean energy adoption, the scheme will fall under the new initiative, ‘PM Surya Ghar: Free Electricity Scheme — State Top-Up’, for which `50 crore has been allocated. The scheme targets `2.3 lakh installations over the next three years.
To make solar adoption more accessible, the government is partnering with financial institutions to offer easy loan options for the remaining installation cost, which is about `90,000. This structure will allow residents to install solar panels with zero upfront payment and save up to `4,200 on monthly electricity bills.
Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Sirsa said, “Now the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has approved a subsidy of `10,000 per kilowatt more which comes around to `30,000.”
The Central Government provides a subsidy of `78,000 for installing rooftop solar panels under PM Surya Ghar Yojana. Sirsa also said that the government will tie up with banks so that people can get easy loans on installation charges for solar panels. People will not have to spend any money from their packet and will save `4,200 per month, he added.
In a strong step toward combating air pollution, the Cabinet approved a comprehensive sanitation and dust control plan for the Public Works Department (PWD). Under this plan, the government will deploy modern equipment to clean roads and reduce dust emissions. The equipment includes 250 Water Sprinkler Machines with integrated Anti-Smog Guns, 70 Mechanical Road Sweeping Machines with 210 additional sprinklers and Anti-Smog Guns, 18 dump vehicles and 18 water tankers.
All machines are expected to be fully operational before winter, supported by funding from the Environment Department under the Pollution Control and Emergency Measures scheme.
In the field of education, the Cabinet approved renaming the Chief Minister Scholarship for Meritorious Students back to its original title ‘Lal Bahadur Shastri Scholarship for Meritorious Students’. The scheme offers an annual scholarship of Rs. 2,500 to Class VII–XII government school students scoring 80% or above. The CM emphasized that reinstating the iconic name honours India’s legacy and reinforces the government’s commitment to merit-based support.
