PM Surya Ghar — Muft Bijli Yojana

PM Surya Ghar is the central government's rooftop solar subsidy for residential electricity connections. It was approved on 29 February 2024, runs until 31 March 2027, carries an outlay of ₹75,021 crore and targets one crore households. Everything happens through one website — the National Portal at pmsuryaghar.gov.in — and the money lands in your bank account, not in an installer's.

What follows is a plain reading of the scheme's operational guidelines (MNRE O.M. 318/17/2024-GCRT dated 7 June 2024, as amended 7 July 2025). Every number below is in that document.

What the subsidy actually pays

The subsidy is called Central Financial Assistance (CFA). It is calculated on the kilowatt-peak of solar module capacity you install, in two bands:

Capacity	CFA rate
First 2 kWp	₹30,000 per kWp
The third kWp, or part of it	₹18,000 per kWp
Anything beyond 3 kWp	nothing

That produces a hard ceiling of ₹78,000 for an individual household. The guidelines' own worked examples make the shape obvious:

1.5 kW → ₹30,000 × 1.5 = ₹45,000
2.5 kW → (₹30,000 × 2) + (₹18,000 × 0.5) = ₹69,000
6 kW → (₹30,000 × 2) + (₹18,000 × 1) = ₹78,000

A 6 kW system and a 3 kW system receive exactly the same rupee amount. This is the most misread part of the scheme. Sizing above 3 kW is often the right call — it is just never a subsidy decision.

Behind those rates sits a benchmark cost fixed by MNRE at ₹50,000/kW for the first 2 kW and ₹45,000 for each additional kW; CFA is 60% and 40% of those. Madhya Pradesh is not a special-category state, so the standard rates apply. MNRE may revise the benchmark at the scheme's midterm review, or earlier if module prices move sharply upward.

CFA follows the modules, not the inverter — it is computed on the rated DC capacity of the array whatever inverter you fit. Batteries, trackers and small wind hybrids are permitted, and none of them add a rupee.

Who is eligible

A residential consumer with a valid consumer account number, or equivalent consumer ID, with the local distribution utility.
The system must sit on a roof, terrace, balcony, or on top of an elevated structure. Building-integrated PV also qualifies.
Capex mode only — you fund the system, from your own capital or a loan. RESCO and utility-led aggregation models are covered by separate guidelines.
Modules must satisfy the Domestic Content Requirement, and the installer must be a vendor registered on the National Portal.
Government, commercial and industrial connections receive no CFA at all — the guidelines say so explicitly.
Off-grid systems are not eligible. A grid-connected system that does not export — behind-the-meter or battery-hybrid — can be, subject to state regulatory approval and verification of its reverse-power-relay protection.

Each rooftop system is eligible once; a system dismantled and moved elsewhere is not eligible again. If you took a subsidy under an earlier MNRE programme and are now enlarging the array, you can claim only for the balance capacity up to 3 kW overall — the guidelines' example is a household that took ₹14,588 for 1 kW under Phase-II, expanded to 4 kW, and could claim ₹48,000 more.

Group housing societies and RWAs

A GHS or RWA can claim ₹18,000 per kWp up to 500 kWp, but only for common facilities, including EV charging, and capped at 3 kWp per house. Eligible capacity is the lower of (3 kW × number of houses) and the installed capacity, inclusive of individual rooftop plants residents have already put up. The guidelines' example: 100 kW across 20 households earns ₹10,80,000, because 20 × 3 kW binds; across 50 households the same array earns ₹18,00,000. The connection must be dedicated to common facilities and must not supply individual homes.

The application process, step by step

Register on the National Portal with your consumer account number. The portal issues an application ID and generates an e-token — the instrument the subsidy is eventually paid against.
Choose a registered vendor. Under this scheme there is no DISCOM tendering or rate discovery; unlike the old Phase-II programme, you negotiate directly at mutually decided rates. The portal carries vendor profiles, prices and ratings.
Agree the system and the price. Design, components, quality and commercial terms are settled between you and the vendor. A sample vendor–consumer agreement sits at Annexure 2 of the guidelines; the real one may differ.
Feasibility. Under the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, applications for rooftop systems up to 10 kW are deemed accepted without DISCOM technical-feasibility approval. Until a state operationalises that, you upload feasibility documents as the state's regulations require.
Installation, including safety checks and a handover briefing.
Update the portal. You upload system details and every required document, including geo-tagged photographs. The vendor may assist through your login. The application then moves to the DISCOM.
DISCOM inspection. The DISCOM physically inspects the plant, signs the metering agreement, completes a checklist-based inspection on the portal and approves for CFA release. It may instead return the application for correction, or reject it with reasons. No CFA is processed before physical verification.
Meter. The DISCOM installs the meter once installation is complete — either providing the net meter itself or letting you procure one from an enlisted vendor. Where smart metering has been awarded under RDSS, it must be installed through the appointed metering infrastructure service provider.
Redeem the e-token. Once the documents are in and inspection is done, the e-token is activated with the CFA due on your actual installed capacity. You log in and redeem it.
Money moves. CFA is released to the bank account registered on the portal, backed by a cancelled cheque, e-statement or passbook scan. If you financed the system, CFA goes to the loan account first, up to the amount outstanding, and only the remainder reaches your own account.

The guidelines state that CFA is processed within 15 days of DISCOM approval. MNRE's own restatement in March 2026 was that, with all credentials entered correctly, average processing runs about 15 days after the consumer's redemption request.

Financing

Standardised loan products for residential systems up to 3 kW are available through the National Portal at repo rate + 50 basis points. In a written reply in Parliament dated 28 July 2026, MNRE stated the current rate as 5.75% per annum, collateral-free, tenure 10 years. It moves with the repo rate — it was 6% in December 2025.

Where applications actually stall

Non-DCR modules. Using them "in any form" makes the entire installation ineligible for CFA. It is a disqualifier, not a deduction.
Bank details. CFA is released against the account on the portal. A name mismatch or a missing cancelled cheque holds up the transfer after everything else has cleared.
The portal-updation step. Step 6 is where applications sit unmoved, because nobody realised the consumer login had to be used and the photographs had to be geo-tagged.
Expecting more than ₹78,000, or installing before applying — the e-token is generated on application, and the sequence only works in that order.

The scheme is also fund-limited: the portal accepts up to one crore active applications, and only those are considered for CFA release.

For grievances, MNRE runs a national call centre on 15555 in 12 languages, with a 30-day resolution commitment and a tracking ID per complaint. Quality is policed at the other end too: registered vendors owe five years of free repairs and maintenance from commissioning, and those whose work fails the standard can be de-registered and penalised.

पीएम सूर्य घर — मुफ्त बिजली योजना