Chandigarh, 10 December, Dec 10, 2025 (Yes Punjab News)
In response to the questions raised by Chandigarh MP and former Union Minister Manish Tewari regarding the installation of solar systems on rooftops, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy and the Ministry of Power have shared several important details.
MP Tewari had sought information from the Ministry on the current status of rooftop solar plant installations, the number of buildings powered by solar energy, and the total installed capacity. These questions were specifically related to government buildings in Punjab, Haryana, UT Chandigarh, and offices of the Central Government.
Union Minister of State Shripad Yesso Naik informed that as of 31 October 2025, a total of 22.42 GW of Rooftop Solar (RTS) capacity has been installed across various categories of consumers in the country. In Chandigarh, rooftop solar plants with 52.825 MW RTS capacity have been installed on 6,606 buildings; in Punjab, 4.82 MW RTS capacity on 241 buildings; and in Haryana, 34 MW RTS capacity on 4,474 buildings.
Similarly, as of 4 November 2025, 619.78 MW of rooftop solar capacity has been installed on 13,525 government buildings of various central ministries and departments across the country.
On the question related to violation of constitutional and fundamental freedoms by coercing residents to install solar systems on private rooftops by amending building by-laws, the Minister clarified that no such directions have been issued by the Ministry—neither to enforce installation nor to cancel registration/conveyance deeds.
MP Tewari had also asked why Chandigarh, especially the Daddumajra landfill, has still not been equipped with a fully functional Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant despite the accumulation of waste from 2004 to 2025. He further asked whether there is any concrete, time-bound and funded plan to eliminate the growing garbage mound.
According to the Ministry, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has stated that waste at the Daddumajra site—both wet and dry—is already being processed and converted into Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF), which is itself a recognised form of WTE processing.
The WTE plant remained entangled in litigation for several years, preventing the Municipal Corporation from undertaking major restructuring or establishing a new full-capacity WTE plant.
In 2020, the Municipal Corporation took over the plant and began operating it, including a facility for processing 200 MTD of dry waste.
Additionally, a Memorandum of Understanding has recently been signed between the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation Limited to set up a separate bio-based Compressed Biogas (CBG) plant at the Daddumajra dumping ground to process approximately 230 metric tons of waste.
MP Tewari stressed that last year, between October and December 2024, the Chandigarh Administration was threatening residents that their land registrations would be cancelled. But now, the Central Government—particularly the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy—has categorically denied issuing any such instructions.
He questioned who in the Chandigarh Administration misused their authority to issue such illegal and arbitrary orders. He said the matter must be investigated, and the responsible officials must be held accountable by the Hon’ble Governor of Punjab and the Chandigarh Administration.
It will be interesting to find out which are these 6000 odd Government buildings on which roof top solar has been installed in Chandigarh.
I further am surprised that there even are 6000 odd Government buildings of the UT Administration in Chandigarh.
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