New Delhi: Since the launch of the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana in February 2024, a total of 22,65,521 rooftop solar systems have been installed across India, resulting in the addition of over 8.3 GW of solar capacity as of January 30, 2026, Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy Shripad Yesso Naik told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Responding to a question, Naik said these installations have benefited 28,24,518 households across the country.
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Addressing concerns around land availability for renewable energy projects, the minister said most projects are developed by private developers, who are responsible for identifying and acquiring land.
He added that since land is a state subject, the identification and allocation of land for renewable energy projects is generally carried out by the respective state or Union Territory governments.
On transmission corridor constraints, Naik said the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy takes up such matters with the concerned agencies “from time-to-time” to remove obstacles, if any.
Providing an update on offshore wind projects, the minister said MNRE issued guidelines for a viability gap funding (VGF) scheme for offshore wind energy projects on September 11, 2024.
The first tender, for a 500 MW offshore wind project off the Gujarat coast, was issued by the Solar Energy Corporation of India on September 13, 2024, but did not receive any bids.
He said the tender for offshore wind development along the Tamil Nadu coast is linked to the outcomes of wind resource assessments and other studies being conducted by the National Institute of Wind Energy.
Naik also said the government has approved a VGF scheme for large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) with an outlay of Rs 3,760 crore, envisaging a deployment capacity of 13.22 GWh.
In addition, a separate VGF scheme of 30 GWh, funded through Rs 5,400 crore from the Power System Development Fund, aims to support 25 GWh of BESS projects across 15 states and 5 GWh at an existing NTPC generating station, he said.
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The Green Energy Corridor Phase-II scheme, approved in January 2022, is expected to facilitate grid integration of around 20 GW of renewable energy power through expanded transmission infrastructure across seven states, with central financial assistance of 33 percent of project cost, the minister added.
