The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the INR 75,000 crore ‘PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana’ rooftop solar scheme.
The scheme will benefit 1 crore families. While announcing the scheme, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said the beneficiaries will get 300 units of free electricity under this scheme.
Central Financial Assistance for solar rooftops
The key elements of the program encompass financial support provided by the central government in the form of Central Financial Assistance (CFA) specifically designated for the implementation of Residential Rooftop Solar projects.
‘The CFA will be capped at 3 kW. At current benchmark prices, this will mean INR 30,000 subsidy for 1 kW system, INR 60,000 for 2 kW systems and INR 78,000 for 3 kW systems or higher,’ an official statement said.
The households will 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 calculators, vendor ratings, etc.
The government said that 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.
PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana: Model Solar Village
The government release said that 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. 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.