Consumers of captive solar power urge govt not to bill electricity duty

Jaipur: Consumers of captive solar power on Monday urged the government not to bill electricity duty (ED) against them and pile up arrears, saying these projects did not attract any duty as per the solar policy rolled out in 2019.Members of Rajasthan Solar Association representing companies such as JK Cement, Hindustan Zinc, Agarwal Woven Polymers, Udaipur Cement Works, ib Vogt Solar India and Reliance Chemotex Industries said the duty is against the high court order. In September 2021, hearing a petition by Rajasthan Solar Association, the Jodhpur bench of Rajasthan high court issued a stay order on the demand of the discoms for payment of duty by captive solar plants. Many states do not levy ED on captive power plants.Sunil Bansal, president of Rajasthan Solar Association, said, “As a concept, if the power is not traded and consumed by the producer, there should not be any duty. In this case, some companies invested in captive power plants looking at the policy of the government. That’s why it is not appropriate on the part of the discoms to force captive plants to pay duty.”In a surprise move, the energy department removed the clause from the solar policy that exempted these power plants from ED. “Not adhering to the Rajasthan Solar Policy, which was duly cleared by the state government, will also impact the development of solar projects in the state,” said a member of the association.