Incentives for Solar Water Heating

IREDA sanctions soft loans under the Interest Subsidy Scheme of MNES (valid up to March 31, 2002)

Loans have been sanctioned for 18 such projects

The upper limit of loans to be extended is 85 per cent

IREDA has also appointed financial intermediaries who can provide soft loans for systems of any capacity

Many state governments are also pursuing this programme by offering various incentives

Financial support is provided to SNAs for promotional activities such as publicity, cooking, demonstrations, competitions, training, develoment of marketing network and repair/servicing facilities at sales outlets, etc. Support is also provided to manufacturers (on 50 per cent cost-sharing basis) and NGOs through the nodal agencies

Incentives are offered in two new concepts – ‘solar food restaurants’ set up by nodal agencies in prime locations/big cities, and SEWs who could earn a living by repairing and servicing solar cookers

Under the two loan schemes being operated through IREDA and some commercial banks, interest-free loans are given to purchase solar cookers

In order to encourage State Nodal Agencies (SNAs) to take up large-scale prmotion of solar cookers in their respective states, MNES has instituted an annual award for the best performance