NEW DELHI, Feb 11: Union Minister Shripad Naik announced on Tuesday that the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSGMBY) has benefitted 8.86 lakh households, a scheme designed to enhance rooftop solar installations across the nation.
The PMSGMBY is recognized as the largest domestic rooftop solar initiative in the world, aiming to revolutionize India’s energy framework with the ambitious target of providing solar power to one crore households by March 2027.
The Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy reported in the Rajya Sabha that a total of 8.86 lakh households have gained from rooftop solar plant installations.
As of February 6, there have been 1.71 crore registrations and 45.15 lakh applications received on the national portal dedicated to this initiative.
Data submitted by the minister to the Upper House revealed that no household has benefited in Arunachal Pradesh, while installations remain in single digits for Sikkim (4), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (5), and Nagaland (7) under the scheme as of February 6.
The installations in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu totaled 56, and Meghalaya (17) and Mizoram (87) also did not surpass the 100 mark.
Naik indicated that the government is targeting 10 lakh installations by March and 20 lakh by October.
Regarding zero electricity bills, he noted that this is influenced by various factors, including the solar capacity of rooftop plants, the solar energy produced, the homeowner’s self-consumption of electricity, and state electricity regulator regulations.
Naik estimated that about 45 percent of households are enjoying zero electricity bills.
The average Central Financial Assistance (CFA) provided to each residential user under the scheme amounts to approximately Rs 77,800.
As of January 27, 8.46 lakh households have benefitted from the installation of rooftop solar plants. (PTI)
