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PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana has crossed 50.06 lakh households with rooftop solar installations, against 7.94 lakh installations recorded over the previous ten years.
Cumulative commissioned capacity under the scheme stands at 14.8 GW, and Rs 28,024 crore has been released as subsidy directly to beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer.
Nearly 19 lakh households now receive zero electricity bills, and more than 12 lakh households earned Rs 421 crore in FY 2024-25 by selling surplus power to the grid.
The pace has risen 3.2 times in nine months, from 5,038 installations a day in October 2025 to nearly 16,328 a day in July 2026, with July 2026 the highest month at 5.06 lakh households.
Government building solarisation has reached 1.06 lakh buildings, of which 25,255 are central government buildings totalling 872 MW.
Install rooftop solar in one crore households and supply up to 300 units of free electricity a month
Key: Launched 13 February 2024 with an outlay of Rs 75,021 crore under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy; described as the world's largest rooftop solar programme
Bring rooftop solar within reach of low-income households while easing state tariff subsidy burdens
Key: 1.6 lakh installations completed for PMAY, BPL and SC/ST households across four states, with the model sanctioned for rollout in twelve states
Remove the upfront cost barrier for households
Key: Loans at 5.75 per cent, benchmarked to repo rate plus 50 basis points, sanctioned for 21.87 lakh applicants; Jan Samarth integration enables paperless processing
Cut approval friction at the distribution-utility end
Key: Deemed approval and feasibility waiver for rooftop systems up to 10 kW; 32 states and union territories have removed application and net metering charges; a Digital Net Metering Agreement runs through the National Portal
Run the scheme end to end online with no physical paperwork
Key: PFMS integration allows subsidy release within 15 days, API integration covers over 80 DISCOMs, the DCR portal enforces domestic content compliance, and a star-rating framework makes vendor quality visible to consumers
Deepen urban uptake and de-risk RESCO-model projects
Key: The accelerator programme runs across 46 cities; the Payment Security Mechanism reduces payment risk for RESCO bidders in state and UT solarisation projects
A rooftop system generates most of its power in the middle of the day, which is often more than the household consumes at that moment. Net metering allows the excess to flow back into the distribution utility's grid, with the meter recording the net of what was drawn and what was exported. The household is billed only for the net drawal, and where exports exceed drawal it can earn from the surplus — the release records more than 12 lakh households earning Rs 421 crore in FY 2024-25, roughly Rs 3,500 a year each. This is also why the scheme's administrative reforms matter as much as the subsidy: without a net metering agreement, and without the DISCOM processing it quickly, a working rooftop panel produces no financial benefit. Hence the digital net metering agreement, the removal of net metering charges in 32 states and union territories, and the deemed-approval rule for systems up to 10 kW.
Simple Analogy: The grid acts as a bank for electricity: the household deposits sunshine at noon and withdraws power at night, paying only on the balance.
The nodal ministry for the scheme and for India's renewable energy programmes generally
Process net metering, connect rooftop systems to the grid and settle surplus exports; over 80 DISCOMs are API-integrated with the scheme's national portal and have received Rs 3,807.6 crore in incentives
The payment infrastructure that enables subsidy release to beneficiaries within 15 days
Rs 28,024 crore has flowed straight to beneficiaries, making this one of the larger DBT-delivered capital subsidy programmes
Decentralised household generation reduces reliance on centralised thermal supply and, through the DCR portal, is tied to domestic content requirements for solar equipment
Rooftop solar reduces daytime sales for distribution utilities, which is why the scheme pays DISCOM incentives and why the Utility Led Aggregation model is pitched as reducing state tariff subsidy burdens
Jan Samarth-based paperless loans at repo-linked rates are what allowed 17.5 lakh installations to be completed through loan financing
GS Paper 3 > Infrastructure and Energy; Environment > Renewable Energy
General Awareness > Government Schemes
General Awareness > Government Schemes and Priority Sector Lending
General Awareness > Government Schemes
The term 'Domestic Content Requirement' is sometimes seen in the news with reference to
Answer: Developing solar power production in our country
Consider the following statements regarding carbon markets in India: Carbon credits can be generated by afforestation and renewable energy projects. India has launched a domestic voluntary carbon market. Carbon markets are monitored under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
Answer: Only 1 and 2 are correct
Rooftop solar and PM Surya Ghar recur across Prelims, banking and railway general awareness, particularly at milestone announcements
An arrangement where a rooftop system's exports to the grid are set off against the household's drawal, with billing only on the net
A model in which the distribution utility aggregates demand and installs rooftop solar for low-income households, easing both cost and tariff-subsidy burdens
Renewable Energy Service Company — a model in which a developer owns the rooftop system and sells the power, rather than the household owning the asset
The portal enforcing Domestic Content Requirement compliance in equipment used under the scheme
The national portal for credit-linked government schemes, integrated here for paperless loan processing