In view of huge consumption of electricity in the Smart City Bhubaneswar, the State Government has decided to make rooftop solar panels mandatory for new building plan approval.

The move came at the first Executive Council meeting of the Odisha State Council on Science and Technology held under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi at the State Secretariat recently.

For the promotion of solar rooftop generation, Science and Technology Secretary Bhaskar Jyoti Sarma stated that the installation of solar panels should be mandatory for building plan approval.

Initially, the solar generation in building by-laws for installation of the solar rooftop was considered for Bhubaneswar through the BDA (Bhubaneswar Development Authority) regulatory.

However, an appropriate scheme in this regard will be formulated for providing an initial subsidy of Rs 10,000 per KW for the promotion of solar rooftops throughout the State.

According to reports, most of the States provide the subsidy for installation of solar panels after approval of the building plan for construction of a new house.

A suitable tariff for household generated solar energy needs to be fixed. Filing of a petition in OERC for fixing of tariff for solar rooftop generated energy will be necessary. It was decided that such a tariff petition may be filed in OERC in consultation with Energy Department, the Science and Technology Department, said a notification dated February 4.

Adherence to energy efficient building code may be made mandatory for building plan approval by the municipalities. This will result in 20 to 30 per cent saving in energy consumption in buildings, stated Sarma at the meeting.

Chairing the meeting, Chief Secretary said that such regulation will be considered after successful installation of rooftop solar panels at the Secretariat building.

The Science and Technology Department has been directed to prepare a roadmap for making the Secretariat energy efficient.