PIB TrackerRooftop solar reaches 48 lakh homes — and zero bills for 19 lakh
PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana has installed nearly 40 lakh rooftop solar systems benefiting over 48 lakh households since February 2024, with more than 18.93 lakh consumers reporting zero electricity bills.
What happened
- PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana has installed 39,72,447 rooftop solar systems since February 2024.
- It has benefited 48,02,717 households (as on 22 July 2026).
- In 2025-26 alone, 18.71 lakh systems added 6.7 GW for 22.71 lakh households.
- Over 18.93 lakh beneficiaries now report a zero electricity bill.
- It is demand-driven — any grid-connected residential consumer can apply on the National Portal.
For Prelims
- PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana: launched February 2024 for residential rooftop solar with central financial assistance.
- Progress: 39.72 lakh systems installed; 48.02 lakh households benefited; 18.93 lakh with zero bills.
- 2025-26: 18.71 lakh systems and 6.7 GW of capacity added.
- How it works: demand-driven applications on the National Portal, with net metering through the local DISCOM.
- PM-KUSUM: the farm solar scheme being converged with PM Surya Ghar.
- Significance: distributed, consumer-owned generation complementing utility-scale renewables.
For UPSC: An energy-and-technology item. Use it for distributed/rooftop solar and net metering, India's renewable and non-fossil targets, DISCOM finances and consumer prosumers, and energy access and affordability.
What it is NOT: This is progress on a residential rooftop-solar subsidy scheme — not utility-scale solar capacity, and the zero-bill figure applies to a subset of beneficiaries reported by DISCOMs.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS3.9 · GS3.11 · Linkage L1
Anchor
The rooftop becomes a power plant — and for 19 lakh homes, the bill goes to zero.
Substantiation (data)
39.72 lakh systems and 48.02 lakh households since February 2024; 6.7 GW added in 2025-26; 18.93 lakh zero-bill consumers.
Exemplification
Net metering turns households into 'prosumers' who consume their own generation and export the surplus.
Problematisation
DISCOM revenue impacts, rooftop access for tenants and small homes, financing and after-sales service constrain scale.
Way-forward
Streamline net metering and DISCOM incentives, expand financing and quality assurance, and converge with PM-KUSUM.
Position
Distributed solar democratises energy generation and is essential alongside utility-scale renewables.
Deploys into: Energy infrastructure + S&T in daily life (GS3.9, GS3.11) · rooftop solar and net metering, the renewable transition, DISCOMs and energy access.
Ministry of New & Renewable Energy · 2026-07-28 · PRID 2290402 · PIB source ↗