New Delhi: The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana -- the rooftop solar scheme for free electricity.
The Prime Minister had launched the scheme on 13th February, 2024. With a total outlay of Rs 75,021 crore for installing rooftop solar, PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana aims to provide free electricity up to 300 units every month for One Crore households.
Households can register themselves on https://pmsuryaghar.gov.in to avail benefits under the scheme.
The scheme 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.
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 households will have to apply for subsidy through the National Portal 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.
"The proposed scheme will result in addition of 30 GW of solar capacity through rooftop solar in the residential sector, generating 1000 BUs of electricity and resulting in reduction of 720 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions over the 25-year lifetime of rooftop systems," said a cabinet note.
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, it added.