According to the statistics supplied by the nodal agency, the government-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) paid roughly Rs 491 crore in April to solar and wind companies for the power it purchased.
These payments accounted for 90.4% of the agency's total disbursements for the month.
The nodal agency spent Rs 543 crore in the month on solar and wind power purchases, subsidies, developer reimbursements, and duty and tax refunds, among other things.
The SECI payments have come as a relief to renewable developers who have been struggling with unpaid dues from distribution companies (discom). At the end of April, the discom owed renewable energy generators Rs 11,334 crore in overdue payments (excluding disputed amounts) across 200 pending invoices.
The nodal agency paid solar and wind generators around Rs 433 crore for the power they provided in March.
The developers who received the most payouts in April included -- SB Energy One, Wardha Solar, and Clean Solar.
In April, a total of Rs 141 crore was made available for viability gap funding (VGF). Subsidies for the rooftop programme totalled around Rs 3.7 crore from the agency.
Sukhbir Agro, Clean Max Enviro Energy, and Wattplus Energy were the primary recipients of SECI subsidies in the rooftop solar segment.
SECI also released Rs 3.2 crore in transmission charges payments. The only two recipients of funds in February were Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited and Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy was fully refunded Rs 22.5 crore as part of the central financial assistance programme for the central public sector undertaking programme.
The goods and services tax (GST) and safeguard duty claims for the annuity method were refunded to solar power developers in the amount of Rs 5.3 crore. There are numerous safeguard duties and GST claims that have yet to be paid.
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) recently ordered SECI to compensate SB Energy One, a solar developer, for the cost increases incurred as a result of the imposition of GST and safeguard duty.
CERC had previously requested that SECI compensate SBG Cleantech Projecto Five for increased costs incurred as a result of the imposition of safeguard duty under the change in law clause.
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