PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana: In News
As of 14 July, the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana had benefitted 15.45 lakh households, the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has informed the Parliament recently.
- PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana was launched on February 15, 2024, and aims to provide free electricity to households in India.
- Under the scheme, households will be provided with a subsidy to install solar panels on their roofs.
- The scheme provides for a subsidy of 60% of the solar unit cost for systems up to 2 kW capacity and 40 percent of additional system cost for systems between 2 to 3 kW capacity.
- The subsidy has been capped at 3 kW capacity.
- At current benchmark prices, this will mean Rs 30,000 subsidy for 1 kW system, Rs 60,000 for 2 kW systems and Rs 78,000 for 3 kW systems or higher.
- For special states, an additional 10% Subsidy will be applicable per kW.
- It would help one crore families get up to 300 units of free electricity per month with savings of up to Rs 18,000 annually.
- It is estimated that the scheme will save the government Rs. 75,000 crore per year in electricity costs.
- The scheme has an outlay of Rs 75,021 crore and is to be implemented till FY 2026-27.
- Eligibility:
- The household must be an Indian citizen.
- The household must own a house with a roof that is suitable for installing solar panels.
- The household must have a valid electricity connection.
- The household must not have availed any other subsidy for solar panels.
- The scheme will be implemented by a National programme Implementation Agency (NPIA) at the National level and by the State Implementation Agencies (SIAs) at the state level.
- Under the scheme, DISCOMs are designated as State Implementation Agencies (SIAs) responsible for facilitating various measures, including net meter availability, timely inspection, and commissioning of installations.
- DISCOMs will receive incentives based on their achievement in the installation of additional grid-connected rooftop solar capacity beyond a baseline level.
- The total financial outlay for the ‘Incentives to DISCOMs’ component is Rs 4,950 crore.
- One of the components of the scheme is the development of Model Solar Village in each district of the country.
- An amount of Rs 800 crore has been allocated for this component with a provision of central financial assistance of Rs one crore per model village.
- Under the component Incentives to Local Bodies, the scheme has provision of providing an incentive at Rs 1,000 per rooftop solar installation in the respective jurisdiction of the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) at the Gram Panchayat level.
