Raj, Goa and Gujarat lead in placing govt trained solar panel technicians

Spending on research and training of solar panel technicians (suryamitras) was halved in 2022-23 compared to 2019-20

Earlier this week, the minister of state for new and renewable energy, Bhagwanth Kubha, informed Rajya Sabha that 123.11 GW of solar capacity had either been commissioned or was in the pipeline. India had set a target of 100GW solar capacity by December 2022.

While the government is rushing to meet its next ambitious target—it plans to install 300GW of solar capacity by 2030—support for ancillary programmes seems to be waning. Analysis of data from the ministry of new and renewable energy shows that the government has considerably reduced the budget for training and research related to the solar programme. This includes the award of money for research and training of suryamitras or technicians for the maintenance of solar panels.

The government plans to spend Rs 30.9 crore on training and research in 2022-23, almost half of the Rs 62.1 crore it spent in 2019-20.

 

Though better than the government’s flagship scheme, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, the placement record hasn’t been stellar either. While the government has trained 51,331 candidates across states and UTs to serve as technicians, jobs have been difficult to come by. Just over a half or 26,967 trained under the suryamitra scheme were able to secure a placement.

 

The track record is worse in some of the smaller states and UTs. Seven of the 32 states and UTs had a 60 or over 60 per cent placement record for suryamitras; another nine had a placement record of 50-60 per cent, while the rest fell below the 50 per cent mark. Five states and UTs could not place a single technician after training.

Rajasthan is the best-performing state with a 66 per cent placement record, followed by Goa, Gujarat and Punjab. On the other hand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland had a zero-placement record.