Rooftop solar scheme gaining momentum

The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSGMBY), the domestic rooftop solar scheme, is well on the path to achieve the target of one crore households by March 2027. By the end of this fiscal, installations are estimated to surpass 10 lakh, official sources told Bizz Buzz.

The number will rise to 20 lakh by October 2025, 40 lakh by March 2026, and the targeted one crore by March 2027, they said.

Launched on February 15, 2024, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the PMSGMBY is claimed to be the world’s largest domestic rooftop solar initiative. The scheme offers a subsidy of up to 40 per cent to households. In just nine months, 6.3 lakh installations have been completed, resulting in an impressive monthly installation rate of 70,000, ten times higher than the pre-scheme average, the sources said.

The scheme is expected to save the government Rs 75,000 crore annually in electricity costs.

The PMSGMBY scheme has an outlay of Rs 75,021 crore and is to be implemented till 2026-27. It is being implemented by REC Ltd at the national level and by the state implementation agencies (SIAs) at the state level. The distribution utilities (Discoms) are SIAs.

Discoms facilitate measures for promotion of rooftop solar in their respective areas such as availability of net meters, timely inspection and commissioning of installations, vendor registration and management, interdepartmental convergence for solarizing government buildings, etc.

The scheme provides for a subsidy of 60 per cent of the solar unit cost for systems up to 2kW capacity and 40 per cent of additional system cost for systems between 2 to 3kW capacity. The subsidy has been capped at 3kW capacity.

At current benchmark prices, this will mean Rs 30,000 subsidy for 1kW system, Rs 60,000 for 2kW systems and Rs 78,000 for 3kW systems or higher.

Households get access to collateral-free, low-interest loans at around 7 per cent interest for the installation of residential rooftop solar systems.