NEW DELHI, October 18 — The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced on Sunday that the flagship 'PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana' has surpassed the benchmark milestone of 1.5 million operational residential rooftop solar installations across India.
Sanctioned with an outlay of ₹75,021 Crore, the scheme aims to supply up to 300 units of free monthly electricity to 10 million households while incentivizing grid feed-in for excess generation. Under the streamlined funding mechanism, the Central Government disburses direct benefit transfer (DBT) subsidies of ₹60,000 for 2 kW systems and ₹78,000 for 3 kW configurations directly into verified applicant bank accounts within 30 days of utility commissioning.
State-wise adoption registers indicate that Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan lead nationwide rooftop installations. The accelerated deployment has added over 4,800 MW of decentralized solar generation to local distribution circuits, lowering peak transmission line congestion and mitigating millions of tonnes of carbon emissions.
The operational design of PM Surya Ghar (launched in February 2024), the historical trajectory of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM 2010), India's updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted to UNFCCC, and technical concepts of net-metering versus gross-metering are critical study areas for UPSC GS-III.