In a major push for solar electricity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 29, 2024, approved the Rs 75,000 crore funds for rooftop solar schemes under which at least 1 crore families can benefit. During the interim budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam announced the Centre's free electricity scheme if they install a solar panel on their houses' rooftops. To be precise, families in India can available 300 units of free electricity if they install a solar panel on their rooftop. Union minister Anurag Thakur was quoted saying, "Today's cabinet meeting was held under the leadership of PM Modi. 'PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana' has been approved today, one crore families will get 300 units of free electricity under this scheme." Now, the question arises what is PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, and how people can apply for it? Below is a step-by-step guide for PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana-
PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana is a massive project under the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi so that people can generate environment-friendly electricity and also get free power at their houses. This scheme will not only help connect people in a crackdown on pollution but also will be beneficial financially.
For this, a Central Financial Assistance (CFA) has been set up. As per Government's official release, PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana provides a CFA of 60% of system cost for 2 kW systems and 40% of additional system cost for systems between 2 to 3 kW capacity.
The CFA will be capped at 3 kW. 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.
The households will have apply for subsidy through the National Portal (https://pmsuryaghar.gov.in) and will be able to select a suitable vendor for installing rooftop solar. The National Portal will assist the households in their decision-making process by providing relevant information such as appropriate system sizes, benefits calculator, vendor rating etc.
Furthermore, households will be able to access collateral-free low-interest loan products of around 7% at present for installation of residential RTS systems up to 3 kW.
The official release by the Central government says that this scheme will help making a model Solar Village. To be precise, a model solar village will be developed in each district of the country to act as a role model for adoption of rooftop solar in rural areas. Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions shall also benefit from incentives for promoting RTS installations in their areas. The scheme provides a component for payment security for renewable energy service company (RESCO) based models as well as a fund for innovative projects in RTS.