Representatives of solar industry in Rajasthan said the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill 2022 will further galvanize the developments in the sector, which already has the largest installed capacity in the country.
The bill passed by Lok Sabha has now made it mandatory for the large residential buildings to use 25% of its energy consumption from renewable resources. The existing Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) mandated the commercial buildings for mixing renewable energy, but the norms were not implemented with seriousness. Now, the bill has not only added buildings which are used for commercial activities and use more than 100-kilowatt energy under the mandatory requirement but made a provision for penalty of Rs 10 lakh with Rs 10,000 for non-compliance thereafter.
Ashu Gupta, managing partner at Design2occupancy Services LLP, said, “The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) was there for the commercial buildings. But now the residential buildings have been included to source 25% of their energy consumption from renewable sources. It seems the government is now serious to implement this and has made a penalty of Rs 10 lakh for non-compliance and Rs 10,000 per day for further violation of the rules.”
In fact, some of the big hotels, data centres and call centres in recent years have started using renewable energy. Sunil Bansal, president of Rajasthan Solar Association, said, “If the norms are implemented in right pursuit, it will generate demand for the popular solar energy. This will create a new cycle of demand and ultimately being the leader in the sector, Rajasthan will gain the most.”
