PM Surya Ghar scheme crosses 50 lakh rooftop solar installations, July records highest monthly additions
New Delhi, August 4
The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana has crossed the milestone of 50.06 lakh households benefiting from rooftop solar installations, marking a sharp acceleration in deployment since the scheme was launched, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
The scheme, launched with an outlay of Rs 75,021 crore, has achieved the milestone in just over two years, compared with 7.94 lakh rooftop solar installations recorded during the preceding ten years. The government said the programme is now adding one lakh beneficiary households every six days, with the pace of installations rising 3.2 times over the last nine months.
In July 2026, 5.06 lakh households benefited from rooftop solar installations, the highest monthly figure recorded since the scheme began. Daily installations increased from 5,038 in October 2025 to nearly 16,328 in July 2026.
The government has released Rs 28,024 crore in subsidies directly to beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). Nearly 19 lakh households are now receiving zero electricity bills, while more than 12 lakh households collectively earned Rs 421 crore from selling surplus power in FY 2024-25. This translates into additional income of around Rs 3,500 annually per household for those exporting electricity to the grid.
The scheme has also expanded access to rooftop solar among lower-income households. Under the Utility Led Aggregation model, 1.6 lakh installations have been completed for PMAY, BPL and SC/ST households across four states, while concessional loans at 5.75 per cent have been sanctioned for 21.87 lakh applicants. Overall, 14.8 GW of rooftop solar capacity has been commissioned under the scheme.
The programme has created a growing ecosystem of 34,219 registered vendors, including 29,469 active vendors, while more than 2.32 lakh people have been trained under capacity-building programmes.
The government said the scheme operates through a 100 per cent online, end-to-end digital process, covering applications, loans, net metering and subsidy release. It has also introduced deemed approval and feasibility waiver for rooftop solar systems up to 10 kW, while 32 States and Union Territories have removed application and net-metering charges.
The scheme has also expanded to government infrastructure, with 1.06 lakh government buildings solarised so far, reinforcing the government's focus on decentralised clean energy and household-level energy security.
— ANI
Reader Comments
This is truly a game-changer for middle-class families like ours. My husband was skeptical initially, but now he's amazed at how much we save every month. We're even earning a small income by selling surplus power to the grid! The DBT process is actually smooth compared to other government schemes I've dealt with. Kudos to the team behind this initiative.
While the numbers look impressive on paper, my experience hasn't been so smooth. I applied in January this year and it took 4 months just to get the net metering approval from my state electricity board. The scheme is good, but the implementation varies wildly from state to state. Some discoms are still creating unnecessary hurdles. Government needs to ensure uniform implementation across all states.
Good scheme, but what about apartments and flats? Most urban Indians live in multi-storey buildings where individual rooftop solar is impossible. The government needs to promote more community solar projects and building-level installations. Also, the battery storage cost is still prohibitive for most households, which means those without net metering support can't truly be energy independent.
My entire neighborhood in Jaipur has embraced this scheme!
K Kavya Krishnan Amazing progress! What impresses me most is the focus on lower-income households - covering PMAY and BPL families. In our colony in Chennai, several families from low-income backgrounds have installed solar through the concessional loan scheme at 5.75% interest. That's much better than any bank loan available in the market. This is how policy should work - inclusive and accessible. We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.