PM Surya Ghar Yojana: Nearly 19 lakh households get zero power bills

Around 18.94 lakh households nationwide are receiving zero electricity bills thanks to the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. Maharashtra leads with 4.17 lakh beneficiaries, followed by Kerala, Gujarat, and UP in adopting rooftop solar systems.

About 18.94 lakh households across the country have reported receiving zero electricity bills after installing rooftop solar systems under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, the government informed Parliament on Wednesday.

Scheme's Impact Across States

According to a written reply by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in the Lok Sabha, the zero electricity bills have been reported by distribution companies (DISCOMs), depending on consumers' self-consumption of electricity during a billing period. Among the states, Maharashtra reported the highest number of beneficiaries with 4,17,707 consumers receiving zero electricity bills. It was followed by Kerala with 1,91,882, Gujarat with more than 4.16 lakh consumers across its DISCOMs, Uttar Pradesh with over 1.75 lakh, Rajasthan with over 1.68 lakh, Madhya Pradesh with more than 1.10 lakh, and Odisha with around 37,678 consumers. Chhattisgarh reported 16,472 such beneficiaries.

Overall Installations and Scheme Progress

The ministry said the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana has so far resulted in the installation of 40,07,355 rooftop solar systems, benefiting 48,21,986 households across the country as on July 24, 2026. Of these, more than 35.97 lakh rooftop solar systems were in the above 3 kWp category, accounting for the largest share of installations.

Measures to Accelerate Implementation

The government also informed Parliament that implementation of the scheme has gathered pace. It said that while it initially took a few months to complete rooftop solar installations for the first one lakh households, the same number of installations is now being achieved in around seven days. To further accelerate implementation and achieve the target of installing rooftop solar systems in one crore households by FY2026-27, the ministry said it has simplified the approval process by waiving technical feasibility requirements in certain cases, introduced auto load enhancement up to 10 kW, integrated the net-metering agreement into the National Portal, enabled collateral-free concessional loans, expanded vendor registration and strengthened coordination with state DISCOMs.

The ministry added that regular monitoring, regional review meetings, awareness campaigns and a dedicated grievance redressal mechanism are also being used to support faster implementation of the scheme across the country. (ANI)

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