What is Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana? How can you benefit from it

In his first step after the Ram Mandir Pran Pratistha ceremony, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana. This visionary scheme aims to provide rooftop solar power systems to one crore households across the country, with many states offering subsidies to facilitate its implementation. For those considering the installation of rooftop solar plants, this initiative presents an excellent opportunity not only to adopt sustainable energy but also to realize significant electricity savings at home.

Reports indicate that installation of rooftop solar plants has already started in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. However, despite the potential benefits, there appears to be a lack of widespread enthusiasm among the public.

Under this scheme, the Central Government is providing a substantial subsidy of 40% on the installation of solar panels up to 3 kW capacity. For those choosing the larger capacity of 10 kW, a substantial subsidy of 20% is still being offered.

Neeraj Kuldeep, Senior Program Head, Energy, Environment and Water Council, stressed the huge potential of installing rooftop solar power in both rural and urban areas across India. Research shows that more than 640 GW of rooftop solar plants could be installed on homes, showing the significant scale of this initiative. At present, benefiting from the government’s capital subsidy programme, around 7 to 8 lakh households have already adopted rooftop solar energy.

Kuldeep highlighted the positive impact of a substantial increase in rooftop solar homes, and estimated that a 12-14 times increase would add 20-25 GW of solar power capacity. Beyond the environmental benefits, this surge could help states save on power subsidies and contribute to improving the financial health of power distribution companies.

From 2022, an online portal is available on the official website for interested individuals to apply for installation of solar plants at their homes. In the application process it is necessary to provide necessary details like state name, electricity bill number, mobile number, email ID and name of electricity distribution company.