Rooftop solar installations soar in India

Indian Union New and Renewable Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi has said that India’s flagship residential solar programme has crossed a major milestone, with the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana now benefiting 5 million households as rooftop solar installations accelerate to more than 16,000 every day.

According to a Press Information bureau (PIB) press release, achieved in just over two years since its launch, this milestone marks a significant acceleration compared to the 794,000 rooftop solar installations recorded over the previous ten years. It reflects the rapid implementation of the world’s largest rooftop solar programme, with an outlay of around Rs 750 million. The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana is the Government of India’s flagship rooftop solar scheme under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

As per an Outlook Business report, speaking at 7th CII International Energy Conference & Exhibition in New Delhi, Joshi said the programme is not only expanding access to clean electricity but is also helping create a nationwide rooftop solar ecosystem while boosting domestic renewable energy manufacturing. He highlighted a series of government measures aimed at strengthening the renewable energy sector, including the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for high-efficiency solar photovoltaic modules, the Green Energy Corridor programme, lower GST on renewable energy equipment, customs duty exemptions for capital goods used in lithium-ion battery manufacturing, and the Renewable Energy Equipment Import Monitoring System. Calling innovation the next frontier of India's energy transition, Joshi urged industry to increase investments in research and development, particularly in advanced solar technologies, battery storage and emerging clean energy solutions.

The scheme, the PIB press release adds, is today benefiting 100,000 households every six days, making it one of the fastest growing clean energy programmes anywhere in the world. The pace of installation has increased 3.2 times over the last nine months, rising from 5038 installations a day in October 2025 to nearly 16,328 installations a day in July 2026.

The government has released almost Rs 280 million in subsidies directly to beneficiaries through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism. As a result, nearly 1.9 million households are now paying zero electricity bills. In addition, more than 1.2 million households earned a combined Rs 4210 million by selling surplus electricity back to the grid during FY 2024-25, generating an average additional income of around ₹3500 annually per household. The scheme has also expanded access to rooftop solar among economically weaker sections. Affordable financing has been another key feature of the programme. Concessional loans at 5.75% per cent interest have been sanctioned to around 2.18 million applicants, with 1.75 million installations already completed through loan financing. Integration with the Jan Samarth platform has enabled paperless loan processing.

The Ministry said the scheme has created a robust ecosystem for the rooftop solar sector, with over 34,000 registered vendors, including 29,469 active vendors, operating nationwide. More than 2.32 lakh people have been trained under capacity-building programmes supporting the rooftop solar value chain. So far, the scheme has commissioned 14.8 GW of rooftop solar capacity.

A Press Trust of India (PTI) report adds that Union minister Pralhad Joshi also said India’s non-fossil fuel electricity generation capacity has already crossed the 300 GW mark and the nation is on track to achieve its target of having 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030. The minister informed that between January to June, in just six months, 30.58 GW of non-fossil fuel-based electricity generation capacity was added, which is 25% higher than the corresponding period of the last year. In the last two years, India added 90 GW of renewable energy or non-fossil fuel-based capacity.

Last month, the Indian Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the ‘Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana (PM-SSY)’, a Scheme for the development of Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FSPV) Projects with Energy Storage Systems (ESS) with a total outlay of around Rs 50 million. The scheme envisages the development of 5000 MW of Floating Solar Photovoltaic projects with co-located Energy Storage Systems having a minimum storage capacity of two hours, i.e.,10,000 MWh. The projects will be sanctioned during FY 2026-27 to FY 2030-31, with disbursement of financial support continuing up to FY 2032-33.