PM Surya Ghar: 50% increase in solar energy capacity on rooftops in six months due to free electricity scheme

Delhi Delhi. The central government's flagship programme, PM Surya Ghar: Free Electricity Scheme, has seen a significant increase of over 50 per cent in rooftop solar power capacity in just six months since its launch in February, according to a report. PM Surya Ghar: Free power scheme was approved on February 29 with an outlay of Rs 75,021 crore. The objective of this program is to increase the share of rooftop solar energy capacity. It will also enable residential houses to generate their own electricity.

New and Renewable Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi recently said that the government has so far installed solar power connections on about 4 lakh rooftops under this flagship programme. This adds up to 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of new residential rooftop solar capacity installed over the six-month period.

A report by JMK Research & Analytics revealed that this already accounts for more than half of India's total residential solar rooftop solar power capacity. The report showed that the installed residential solar rooftop capacity in India as of March was about 3.2 GW or 27 percent of the total units installed in the country. The cumulative installed capacity as of March was about 11.9 gigawatts (GW), of which the commercial and industrial segment accounted for about 60 per cent. To boost the ability of households to choose rooftop solar units, the government has increased the subsidy for modules to 60 percent from the earlier 40 percent. It has also provided loans to households at a minimum interest rate of 7 percent. The plan is expected to be a game changer in India's solar story, increasing residential solar capacity to 30 GW by 2027, the report said. The scheme will be incremental in realizing India's renewable energy targets and net-zero targets.