Andhra discom reaches 100,000 rooftop solar connections for SC and ST families

Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Limited has become the first power distribution company in the state to reach 100,000 rooftop solar connections, according to its chairman and managing director, Siva Sankar Lotheti. The connections were made for families from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities under the Utility-Led Aggregation model. Together, the rooftop systems have a capacity of 210 megawatts and are connected to the electricity grid.

Lotheti said the company had emerged as a leading performer nationally under the model, while Andhra Pradesh ranked fourth among Indian states for the installation of solar systems. The discom plans to install 207,000 systems for SC and ST consumers across the districts under its jurisdiction. The planned installations are expected to have a combined capacity of 415MW.

The areas covered include Tirupati, Nellore, Chittoor, Annamayya, Kadapa, Kurnool, Sri Sathya Sai, Anantapur and Nandyal. Lotheti said the programme was intended to provide clean energy to every eligible SC and ST family. The expansion forms part of the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, which aims to connect one crore households across India to the grid through rooftop solar systems.

The company’s milestone comes as the utility-led programme continues to target household-level renewable-energy installations. The supplied material did not provide details on the cost of the installations, the subsidy structure or the expected reduction in household electricity bills.