Under the Pradhan Mantri Suryoday Yojana, rooftop solar energy will be provided for free to homes with up to 300 units

Under the Pradhan Mantri Suryoday Yojana, rooftop solar energy will be provided for free to homes with up to 300 units

Under the Pradhan Mantri Suryoday Yojana, rooftop solar energy will be provided for free to homes with up to 300 units

Union Energy Minister RK Singh clarified the plan a day after the interim Budget, stating that those who have benefited from low-income housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana would also be taken into account. He said that while they would still be qualified for the increased subsidy, homes with monthly power consumptions over 300 units will need to install rooftop solar on their own.

Under the newly announced "Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana," the Indian government will identify one crore homes that consume up to 300 units of power each month. More significantly, Union Minister for electricity and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh said on February 2 that these families would not be required to pay for the installation of solar electricity on their roofs.

The interim budget, which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled on February 1, included a reference to the rooftop solar program for residential properties. According to the FM's budget address, installing solar panels in these kinds of residences will result in monthly power savings of around 300 units. "This scheme can save households installing rooftop solar power systems between Rs 15,000 and Rs 18,000 on an annual basis," he added.

Singh clarified the plan a day after the Budget, stating that those who have benefited from low-income housing via the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana would also be taken into account. According to the group, "We will identify those households that consume up to 300 units of electricity per month, going beyond the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana." Such houses will be encouraged to install rooftop solar power via the scheme's design, which promises "you won't have to pay anything." Speaking to reporters, the Minister of Energy said.

Eight Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) have been designated by the government to carry out the program across all of the states and union territories in the nation. One crore residences' rooftop solar installations would be handled by these CPSUs.

When asked how CPSUs would pay for the scheme, Singh said that CPSUs will get a 60% increase in the government's rooftop solar subsidy, up from the current 40%. The remaining forty percent of the cash will come from loans that CPSUs will get from organizations such as REC Ltd, the program's nodal agency.

According to him, the debts would be absorbed by special purpose entities (SPVs) that the CPSU established and assigned to each state. "To put it into effect, they'll create SPVs. They'll accept loans. Therefore, the 300 units produced by rooftop solar power will cover that home's monthly energy costs. And the additional solar electricity produced will be used to pay back the debt that the CPSU took out," Singh said, noting that the loan's maximum ten-year term is anticipated.

The rooftop solar infrastructure would be given to families, who will subsequently be allowed to sell their extra electricity to discoms, the Union Minister said, after a ten-year loan repayment term.

On January 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he will start the Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana in one crore homes as soon as he returned from Ayodhya after the dedication ceremony at the Ram temple.

Undoubtedly, there is already a residential rooftop solar (RTS) program in place; however, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is now updating it with new rules and incentives. On March 8, 2019, the Ministry initiated the "Rooftop Solar Program Phase-II" with the aim of supplying Central Financial Assistance (CFA) or subsidies in order to reach 4,000 MW RTS capacity in the residential sector. Nonetheless, as of November 2023, 2651.10 MW of installed capacity was covered under the RTS Phase-II subsidy program.

Rooftop solar energy subsidies are available for homes with a consumption of more over 300 units.

Households that utilize more than 300 units of power per month are also eligible for the program. These homes will qualify for an increased installation cost subsidy, but they will still need to install the roof panels themselves.

Financing options for rooftop solar are already affordable, and the government is now updating its list of vendors by assigning a quality grade to solar panels so that buyers may make well-informed choices.