The poll manifesto of Aam Aadmi Party, released today, says the party wants to make Delhi a ‘solar city’.
Pitching for an incentive-driven “phased shift” to renewable and alternative sources of energy, the manifesto says, “We are committed to ensuring that 20 per cent of Delhi’s energy needs are met through solar energy by 2025.”
The way it would do is by waiving taxes on solar devices and batteries, setting up solar power centres in communities such as slums and low-income settlements and giving people the option of selling extra solar power (from rooftops) to the grid.
It is not for the first time that poll manifestos of political parties mention solar. In the December 2013 Delhi elections, all the three major parties, BJP, Congress and the AAP had included ‘solar’ in their manifestos.
The BJP had promised to make Delhi the ‘solar energy capital’ of the country by providing “liberal assistance” for rooftop plants. The AAP had then said that it would strive to get 20 per cent of Delhi’s energy needs by 2025 from solar plants. The Congress had mentioned solar in the context of bridging peak power deficits.