In a bid to enhance the deployment of decentralized solar energy in India, reduce carbon emissions from government and public buildings and bring in long term energy security, German Development Bank KfW and the energy service company Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) jointly organised a Stakeholder Consultation Workshop in Mumbai on 17 June 2019. The workshop’s aim was to support EESL in their discussions with key stakeholders like the Public Works Department (PWD) and other state government departments in Maharashtra on the deployment of solar rooftop on their buildings under the Building Energy Efficiency Program (BEEP). According to Managing Director Mr. Saurabh Kumar, EESL already achieved to make 1.800 buildings more energy efficient under the BEEP.

A total of 48 participants, comprising of representatives from the PWD, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission, TATA Memorial Hospital and State Bank of India (SBI), joined the discussion on benefits, business opportunities and the status quo of government policies in the area of solar rooftop in India. Maharashtra’s State Revenue Minister Mr. Chandrakant Dada Patil took the workshop as an occasion to name the use of solar rooftop on PWD and other government buildings a winwin for the state and the environment. Based on the input given, EESL formulated a clear target for future actions to be taken under the BEEP. Accordingly, a total capacity of 100 MW solar rooftop systems will be developed in Maharashtra to the 1.800 buildings covered by the programme.