The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued amendments to the guidelines for implementing the Central Financial Assistance (CFA) component under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana.

Under the amendments, the state or union territory government can supplement the CFA provided by the central government with an additional subsidy for rooftop systems. All applications at the redeemed, inspected, and installed stage under Phase II of the rooftop solar program will be eligible for CFA if claims are received by December 31, 2025.

MNRE launched the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana on February 29, 2024, to install rooftop solar systems in 10 million households by 2027 and empower them to generate their own electricity.

Under the revised CFA structure of the PM Surya Ghar program, residential consumers are eligible for ₹30,000 (~$350)/kW for the first 2 kW of rooftop solar capacity. An additional 1 kW qualifies for ₹18,000 (~$210)/kW, while no subsidy is offered for capacities beyond 3 kW.

The CFA is slightly higher for special category states, at ₹33,000 (~$395)/kW for the first 2 kW and ₹19,800 (~$231)/kW for the next 1 kW.

Group housing societies (GHS) and residential welfare associations (RWA) can also utilize CFA for common facilities, such as lighting and electric vehicle charging. In such cases, the CFA will be limited to a maximum of 3 kW per household and capped at 500 kW overall.

GHS and RWAs can avail of ₹18,000 (~$210)/kW CFA and ₹19,800 (~$231)/kW in special category states.

Only projects with domestically produced modules and cells will be eligible for CFA. The use of non-domestic content requirement modules in any form during installation will render it ineligible for CFA.

A rooftop solar system installed by residents that received CFA under a previous MNRE rooftop solar program and later expanded will qualify for additional CFA only for the remaining capacity up to 3 kW of the total project size.

All applications under the program must be submitted online via the PM Surya Ghar National Portal. Consumers can choose vendors from a list of registered service providers, compare system specifications and prices, and negotiate installation terms directly with their selected vendor.

The consumer and the vendor will mutually agree on the system design, components, quality, additional functionalities, and localized design requirements.

The CFA will be processed only after a distribution company (DISCOM) has physically verified the system. The DISCOM will install the meter after the rooftop installation is complete. The DISCOM and the consumer will sign the appropriate metering agreement per state regulations.

The CFA will be processed within 15 days of approval by the DISCOM.

Registered vendors will provide services to consumers for the free repair and maintenance of the solar project for the first five years of the comprehensive maintenance contract period, commencing from the date of commissioning.

The national portal will integrate with state portals to improve accessibility. GIS system, chatbots, and communication through WhatsApp will also be enabled.

Since the program is fund-limited, the acceptance of applications on the National Portal will be restricted to 10 million active applications, and only these applications will be considered for releasing the CFA.

Monitoring will be carried out by committees at the national, state, and district levels. REC will serve as the national implementing agency, with DISCOMs functioning at the state level.

Last year, MNRE issued the operational guidelines to implement the PM Surya Ghar programfor the component “CFA to residential consumers.”