New Delhi: The Cabinet has approved on Thursday PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana with a total outlay of Rs 75,021 crore for installing rooftop solar and providing free electricity up to 300 units every month to one crore households. The scheme had been launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13. The scheme provides a Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of 60 percent of system cost for 2 kW systems and 40 percent 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 apply for subsidy through the National Portal and will be able to select a suitable vendor for installing the 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. Households will be able to access collateral-free low-interest loan products of around 7 percent at present for the installation of residential RTS systems up to 3 kW.
A Model Solar Village will be developed in each district of the country to act as a role model for the adoption of rooftop solar in rural areas, said the government. 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.
The rooftop solar systems installed will have a capacity to generate more than 300 units, PSU Watch has learnt. Through this scheme, while the households will be able to save electricity bills as well as earn additional income through sale of surplus power to DISCOMs. A 3 kW system will be able to generate more than 300 units a month on an average for a household.
The proposed scheme will result in the addition of 30 GW of solar capacity through rooftop solar in the residential sector, generating 1,000 BUs of electricity and resulting in the reduction of 720 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions over the 25-year lifetime of rooftop systems, said the government.
It is estimated that the scheme will create around 17 lakh direct jobs in manufacturing, logistics, supply chain, sales, installation, O&M and other services. The government has launched a massive campaign since the launch of the scheme for raising awareness and generating applications from interested households. Households can register themselves on https://pmsuryaghar.gov.in to avail the benefits under the scheme.
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