Delhi, August 4: The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana has crossed a landmark milestone with over 50.06 lakh households now benefiting from rooftop solar installations across the country. July alone recorded 5.06 lakh households benefited, the highest ever monthly figure since the scheme began, said an official release on Tuesday. 

This milestone marks a significant acceleration compared to the 7.94 lakh 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 Rs 75,021 crore, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The scheme is today benefiting 1 lakh 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 5,038 installations a day in October 2025 to nearly 16,328 installations a day in July 2026.

To support this momentum, Rs 28,024 crore in subsidy has been released directly to beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer. As a result, nearly 19 lakh households are now receiving zero electricity bills, significantly easing the financial burden on families. More than 12 lakh households have together earned Rs 421 crore through sale of surplus power in FY 2024-25, translating to an extra income of around Rs 3,500 per year per household for those exporting power back to the grid.

Under the Utility Led Aggregation model, 1.6 lakh installations have been completed for PMAY, BPL and SC/ST households across 4 States, with the model sanctioned for rollout in 12 States. The model is enabling low-income households to access rooftop solar while helping States reduce their tariff subsidy burden. Concessional loans at 5.75 percent, benchmarked to the Repo rate plus 50 basis points, have been sanctioned for 21.87 lakh applicants, of which 17.5 lakh installations have already been completed through loan financing, with Jan Samarth integration enabling paperless loan processing.

The scheme has also created a wide vendor and employment ecosystem, with 34,219 registered vendors, of whom 29,469 are active, operating across the country. Over 2.32 lakh people have been trained under capacity building programmes supporting the rooftop solar value chain. Cumulatively, 14.8 GW of rooftop solar capacity has been commissioned under the scheme so far.

The scheme runs on a 100 percent online, end to end digital process, from application to subsidy release, with no physical paperwork or office visits required from consumers. This has been enabled through Jan Samarth integration for paperless loans, PFMS integration allowing subsidy release within 15 days, API integration with over 80 DISCOMs for seamless processing, a Digital Net Metering Agreement through the National Portal, and a vendor rating framework offering star ratings visible to consumers. Integration with the DCR portal ensures domestic content compliance.

On the ease of doing solar front, a deemed approval and feasibility waiver has been introduced for rooftop solar up to 10 kW, and 32 States and Union Territories have removed application and net metering charges for rooftop solar. Rs 3,807.6 crore has been released as incentive to DISCOMs and around Rs 104 crore to Urban Local Bodies. A City Accelerator Programme has been launched across 46 cities, and around 23,000 third party quality inspections have been carried out under the vendor accountability framework.

Central Ministries have identified about 41,542 feasible Government buildings with a potential of 1,418 MW, of which 25,255 buildings with 872 MW have already been solarized. States have identified about 3,20,000 feasible Government buildings with a potential of 4,400 MW, of which 81,329 buildings with 1,450 MW have already been solarized. Taken together, 1.06 lakh Government buildings have been solarized so far. A Payment Security Mechanism has also been introduced to encourage RESCO bidders by reducing payment risk and ensuring timely payments in State and UT solarization projects.

With over 50 lakh households now benefiting and installations continuing to accelerate, PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana is reinforcing India's position as a global leader in decentralized, citizen led clean energy adoption, while advancing the twin goals of energy security and energy independence for Indian households.