Over 1 crore household register for PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana

On his X handle on 16 March 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted that over 1 crore households have already registered for the solar rooftop scheme PM-Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana.

The Prime Minister said that Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have seen over 5 lakh registrations under the scheme.

PM-Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana

The PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana was first mentioned in the interim Union budget 2024, which Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled in the Lok Sabha on 1 February 2024. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally launched the Scheme on 13 February 2024. 

The Aim of PM-Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana

• PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana is a rooftop solar project encouraging households to install solar panels. These households will receive 330 units of free electricity per month. 
• The government proposes to invest over  Rs 75,000 crores in the yojana.
• Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats will be incentivised to encourage households in their jurisdiction to install rooftop solar systems. 

Incentive under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana

• The household will receive a solar rooftop subsidy under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. 
• The government will subsidise 60% of the solar unit cost for systems up to 2 kW capacity and 40% of the extra system cost for systems between 2 and 3 kW capacity. The subsidy is limited to a maximum capacity of 3 kW. 
• Banks will provide collateral-free, low-interest loans for installing residential Rooftop solar systems up to 3 kW.
• The banks will provide a loan at  0.5% above the prevailing Repo Rate, which is decided by the Reserve Bank of India. 

PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana Benefits

• The government expects to save up to Rs 15,000-18,000 crore annually for households by providing free solar electricity and selling the surplus to the electricity distribution companies.
• India has committed to achieving a net zero carbon emission target by 2070. It meets most of its electricity needs through coal-based thermal power stations. This solar rooftop programme could reduce India’s dependence on polluting coal-fired thermal power.
• It is also expected to help India achieve its ambitious target of having 500GW installed power capacity from non-fossil sources.

Solar Power Capacity in the Country 

According to the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the country's cumulative installed Solar Power capacity was  75.58 GW as of 31 December 2023. Out of this, the contribution of 

• Ground Mounted Solar Plant  was  59.08 GW
• Grid Connected Solar Rooftop: 11.08 GW
• Hybrid Projects(Solar Component) : 2.57 GW
• Off-Grid Solar: 2.85 GW