New Delhi: The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana has crossed 60 lakh households, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). That puts the residential rooftop solar scheme at 60 percent of the Centre’s target of one crore homes. Alongside it, more than 2.5 lakh people have been trained for rooftop solar work, the ministry said.
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The scheme reached the 60 lakh mark two months after it crossed 50 lakh households. The rate of addition has also changed since launch, according to the ministry. Adding the first one lakh households took 118 days. One lakh new families are now being added in six days, a change the ministry put down to “digital integration and streamlined processes.”
The scheme was launched on February 13, 2024, with a total outlay of Rs 75,021 crore. So far it has added 17,855.3 MW of decentralised solar capacity to the grid, the ministry said. MNRE set this against India’s wider solar growth. According to the ministry, national solar capacity has risen from 3 GW in 2014 to over 168 GW.
The ministry said the rollout is also building a pool of trained workers. Institutions including the National Institute of Solar Energy, the National Power Training Institute (NPTI) and the Skill Council for Green Jobs have trained over 2.5 lakh people, against a target of 3 lakh skilled personnel. That training pipeline includes one lakh specialised solar photovoltaic technicians.
More than 37,000 local businesses are now registered in the scheme’s vendor network. The ministry estimated that the scheme would generate “an estimated 17 lakh direct and indirect jobs” across manufacturing, supply chain, installation and maintenance.
For households, the effect shows up on the monthly electricity bill. “Over 20.7 lakh families covered under the scheme have completely eliminated their monthly power expenditure, recording zero electricity bills,” the ministry said. These households can also export surplus solar power to local grids under net-metering arrangements.
The Centre has so far disbursed Rs 33,642 crore in subsidies directly into beneficiaries’ bank accounts through the Public Financial Management System, according to MNRE. The payouts are “released within 15 days of commissioning,” the ministry said.
The ministry has also simplified approvals. It has waived technical-feasibility checks for systems up to 10 kW. The scheme’s National Portal has been integrated with more than 80 power distribution companies (discoms) across the country.
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Households can also borrow to cover the upfront cost. Beneficiaries can take collateral-free loans through the Jan Samarth portal at concessional interest rates of nearly 5.75 percent, according to the ministry. Repayment can stretch up to 10 years.
