Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced that the scheme to encourage people to install solar panels on their rooftops will be known as ‘PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana’.

The scheme, worth over ₹75,000 crore, aims to light up one crore households by providing up to 300 units of free electricity every month.

“In order to further sustainable development and people’s wellbeing, we are launching the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. This project, with an investment of over ₹75,000 crore, aims to light up 1 crore households by providing up to 300 units of free electricity every month,” Modi wrote on X.

The prime minister said that substantive subsidies will be provided to the beneficiaries of the scheme and that they will be transferred directly to their bank accounts.

“From substantive subsidies, which will be given directly to people’s bank accounts, to heavily concessional bank loans, the Central Government will ensure that there is no cost burden on the people,” he said.

Modi added: “All stakeholders will be integrated to a National Online Portal which will further convenience.”

The prime minister said that in order to popularise the scheme at the grassroots, urban local bodies and panchayats will be incentivised to promote rooftop solar systems in their jurisdictions.

He said that the scheme will lead to more income, lesser power bills and employment generation for people. More information about the scheme can be found at https://pmsuryaghar.gov.in

“Let’s boost solar power and sustainable progress. I urge all residential consumers, especially youngsters, to strengthen the PM – Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana by applying at — https://pmsuryaghar.gov.in,” Modi said.

Under rooftop installation, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are fixed atop a building, home, or a residential property.

Centre’s push for green energy

The scheme to install solar panels was announced by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the interim budget for 2024-25.

The rooftop solar initiative, which offers incentives for people to buy solar installations and feed energy back to the grid, could lead to savings of ₹15,000 annually, Sitharaman had said.

The allocation for solar (grid) for 2024-25 is a whopping ₹10,000 crore for the next financial year, against ₹4,970 crore in 2023-24. For wind power (grid), ₹930 crore has been allocated compared to ₹1,214 crore outlay in 2023-24.