AR
Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh have emerged as the top three states with the highest number of rooftop solar installations under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana scheme.
The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 15, 2024, aims to provide rooftop solar power to one crore households by March 2027. Under the scheme, installations are expected to cross 10 lakh by March 2025, double to 20 lakh by October 2025, and reach 40 lakh by March 2026.
Touted as the world’s largest domestic rooftop solar programme, the initiative seeks to supply free electricity to households through rooftop solar panel installations.
As of December 9, 2024, over 6.79 lakh installations (total households covered) have been completed since the scheme’s launch. These include more than 5.38 lakh individual residential units and around 1.41 lakh households through installations in residential welfare associations, according to Shripad Yesso Naik, Union Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, in a Rajya Sabha reply
88% of the total installations
Six States account for about 88 per cent of the total installations to date. Gujarat is the top State with over 3.02 lakh installations, followed by Maharashtra with more than 1.39 lakh, Uttar Pradesh with over 56,000, Kerala with more than 55,000, Tamil Nadu with over 21,000 and Rajasthan with more than 20,000.
The PM Surya Ghar scheme offers households a subsidy of up to 40 per cent to make renewable energy more affordable. It also provides access to collateral-free, low-interest loans at around 7 per cent interest for the installation of residential rooftop solar (RTS) systems up to 3 kW capacity.
The scheme aims to add 30 GW of solar capacity through residential rooftop installations, playing a key role in advancing India’s renewable energy goals. By targeting one crore households, the initiative is expected to save the government ₹75,000 crore annually in electricity costs.
Over the 25-year lifespan of these rooftop solar systems, the scheme is projected to generate 1,000 billion units of electricity and reduce CO2 emissions by 720 million tonnes, delivering a significant positive impact on the environment.
