Tata Power in Bengal solar push targets rooftop installations across 3 lakh homes

Praveer Sinha (second from left), CEO and MD, Tata Power, in Calcutta on Thursday. Sourced by the Telegraph

Tata Power plans to facilitate rooftop solar installations across 3 lakh households in Bengal over the next three years. The company is also in discussions with the Bengal government to expand its presence in the state's energy sector.

Bengal has lagged in rooftop solar adoption, with just 10,146 installations recorded on the PM Surya Ghar portal covering 25,708 households, against 52.52 lakh installations nationwide covering 62.25 lakh households.

"Bengal unfortunately did not get into the mainstream rooftop solar when it started more than two years back. And that is why the numbers show that the penetration of rooftop solar is very less," Praveer Sinha, CEO and managing director of Tata Power, said on Thursday.

"Some states, for example Odisha, have gone an extra mile and have given higher incentives to promote rooftop solar. We have given our suggestion to the Bengal government and they have said that they will consider it," Sinha said.

Bengal has adopted the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, under which the state has set a target of covering 5 lakh households with rooftop solar installations by March 2027.

For installations of up to 1 kW, beneficiaries are eligible for a combined subsidy of ₹35,000, comprising ₹30,000 from the Centre and ₹5,000 from the state. Bengal's contribution is lower than the additional support offered by some other states, where state subsidies range from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 per kW.

Beyond rooftop solar, Tata Power is examining opportunities to set up large solar power plants in Bengal.

The company has held preliminary discussions with the state government and is assessing land availability for potential projects, with solar parks being a possible route.

"We are looking at other opportunities in Bengal also -- including manufacturing and setting up power plants -- whether we can have large solar plants. There have also been initial discussions on this. We have seen some areas and we are talking about the availability of land. Right now things are very preliminary," Sinha said.

The potential investment in the state could be around ₹2,500 crore if the plans materialise, he indicated.

Meanwhile, Tata Power expects its capital expenditure programme of around ₹28,000 crore through FY28 to remain on track, with the plans unaffected by the leadership and governance differences between Tata Sons and Tata Trusts.