The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has asked the Maharashtra government to withdraw its recent move to restrict the capacity of rooftop solar systems installed by consumers under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana.

In a departure from the earlier policy, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) began processing rooftop solar proposals from February 12, 2026, based on average electricity consumption over the past 12 months rather than the approved load/contract demand.

Before the change was introduced, consumers were allowed to install rooftop solar systems up to the load approved by the distribution company (DISCOM), enabling households to size systems according to future growth in electricity use. This was linked to the maximum demand allowed for households to plan installations based on expected increases in electricity usage.

The MNRE has described this change as “regressive.’ It told a parliamentary standing committee, “We have discussed with the Maharashtra government as well as MSEDCL. We are trying to get it reversed.”

Rooftop solar installers in Maharashtra had urged the MNRE to intervene, as the move could slow progress on the government’s ambitious rooftop solar initiative, which aims to install rooftop systems in 10 million households by 2027.

Responding to a query by the standing committee about the policy tweak, the MNRE said MSEDCL had introduced a new rule that the capacity can be increased only by 1.25 times the consumption over the past 12 months.

In its observations, the standing committee said that although the MNRE was working to reverse the rule change, DISCOMs were unwilling to participate in the PM Surya Ghar program due to revenue losses from consumers shifting from conventional power to solar installations.

“The committee, while acknowledging the provision of financial incentive to DISCOMs for facilitating solar rooftop in their jurisdiction, would like to reiterate their earlier recommendation that unless DISCOMs are fully onboard, it would be difficult for PM Surya Ghar to achieve the targets as envisaged,” stated the committee.

It highlighted both the underutilization of funds and the failure to achieve physical targets under the program. In the last two years since the program became operational, only 2.3 million installations were achieved against a target of 6.1 million, and utilization of ₹224 billion (~$238.27 million) against the allocation of ₹281 billion (~$298 million).

The MNRE, however, maintained that the program is scaling up rapidly due to strong consumer interest. Monthly installations increased from about 15,000 in March 2024 to about 61,000 in June 2024, crossed 100,000 per month by March 2025, and reached 200,000 in January 2026.

The Ministry said going forward, even at a conservative pace of about 225,000 installations per month, more than three million additional systems can be installed by March 2027. In addition, it is promoting the Utility-Led Aggregation model, targeting three million installations, with participation from states.