MNRE Rooftop Solar Scheme, Complete 2026 Guide

Search for the MNRE rooftop solar scheme and you get a subsidy calculator. That answers the wrong question. MNRE does not inspect your roof and does not clear your file. It writes the rules. Other bodies execute them, and the one that decides whether your claim moves is your DISCOM.

This guide covers the institution, not the application form. It maps Rooftop Solar Programme Phase II and its two funding components. It shows how the residential arm folded into PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana in February 2024. It sets out who does what across MNRE, REC Limited, SECI, state nodal agencies, DISCOMs, and vendors. Then CFA routing, consumer categories, and the component rules that govern hardware. Last comes the part most pages skip: where the programme sits against target, and why approvals stall.

For the consumer journey, the steps and documents, use the PM Surya Ghar guide. Rules vary by state and DISCOM, so verify every figure here yourself.

Short version. The MNRE rooftop solar scheme is the Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Programme, whose residential arm now runs as PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. MNRE sets the rules and the central financial assistance slabs. REC Ltd implements nationally. Your DISCOM sanctions, inspects, meters, and verifies the claim. A vendor registered on the National Portal must do the installation.

The 40 GW objective, and how Phase II splits the money

The programme is a capacity target plus a funding mechanism, not a product scheme. MNRE states the objective as “a cumulative installed capacity of 40,000 MW from Grid Connected Rooftop Solar (RTS) projects”. The Union Cabinet fixed that on 17 June 2015, raising the national solar goal to 100,000 MW by 2022. The split was 40 GW rooftop and 60 GW large and medium projects, according to PIB (2015).

No official notification declares the 2022 date missed. MNRE’s own data puts grid connected rooftop at 32.59 GW of 168.04 GW total solar as on 31.08.2026. The ministry’s page has dropped the year while keeping the 40,000 MW figure. India’s Panchamrit pledges at COP26 on 1 November 2021 then moved the wider goal to 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030 (PIB, 2021).

The CCEA approved Phase II on 19 February 2019 with ₹11,814 crore of central support. MNRE launched it on 08.03.2019, according to PIB (2019). Only the residential component reaches a household.

Incentives accrue above the previous year’s base, so a DISCOM has reason to process volume, but it also absorbs metering and network cost. MNRE extended the programme till 31.03.2026 (PIB, 8 December 2022).

How central financial assistance reaches a household

One online pipeline, with a DISCOM checkpoint in the middle. MNRE routes release through an e-token activated after DISCOM inspection. After that, “the CFA shall subsequently be released to the consumer account”, per MNRE Office Memorandum 318/17/2024-GCRT dated 7 June 2024. The DISCOM runs a checklist-based physical inspection and approves the application on the National Portal. CFA is processed within 15 days of that approval.

Two consequences follow. Your DISCOM is the State Implementation Agency and the gate, so the 15 day clock starts at its approval, not your commissioning. And if the system is bank financed, CFA goes to the loan account first.

Who does what in the MNRE rooftop programme

Most confusion in this scheme is role confusion. Read the table before escalating a stuck file.

The SECI row trips people up. Under Phase II, SECI’s own tender document said “SECI’s role is limited to the empanelment process”, with second-stage bidding left to the state agency. SECI is not named in the PM Surya Ghar guidelines.

What changed when PM Surya Ghar launched in February 2024

February 2024 turned a modest residential component into a mass programme. The Prime Minister launched PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana on 13 February 2024. The Union Cabinet approved it on 29 February 2024 with an outlay of ₹75,021 crore (PIB, 2024). The commitment is free electricity up to 300 units a month for 1 crore households. MNRE’s administrative approval followed as Order 318/17/2024-GCRT dated 16 March 2024, running till 31 March 2027.

The old scheme did not run alongside it. MNRE’s guidelines record that Phase II “stands subsumed within the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana”. There was no new tender-mode allocation from 12.02.2024, and claims closed after October 2024.

Of the ₹75,021 crore, ₹65,700 crore is residential CFA and ₹4,950 crore is DISCOM incentives. The rest includes ₹1,000 crore for local bodies, ₹800 crore for Model Solar Villages, and ₹100 crore for RESCO payment security (MNRE, 7 June 2024).

MNRE then removed steps that were slowing files. It waived technical feasibility and allowed sanctioned load to be raised automatically up to 10 kW. It also folded the net metering agreement into the portal application and simplified vendor registration (PIB and MNRE, 25 March 2026). RESCO and Utility Led Aggregation models arrived by Office Memorandum of 28.12.2024.

Eligibility by consumer category, and what sits outside

Category decides which component you are in, and that fixes the amount. The residential component is open to any consumer with a grid connected domestic connection. MNRE calls the scheme demand driven, so no state quota rations households.

Group housing societies and resident welfare associations have their own provision. MNRE Office Memorandum 318/17/2024-GCRT dated 7 June 2024 gives ₹18,000 per kWp for common facilities, including electric vehicle charging. It caps that at 3 kWp per house and 500 kWp for the society. Special category states carry higher residential rates of ₹33,000 per kWp for the first 2 kWp and ₹19,800 for the next. Rates took effect on 13 February 2024, and no later revision is published as of September 2026.

Three categories fall outside residential assistance: commercial and industrial consumers, institutional and social sector buildings on non-domestic tariffs, and government buildings. For a society, the apartment and RWA solar guide covers the ownership questions first.

Worked example: CFA on a group housing society roof

This is arithmetic on published MNRE parameters, not a quote or field data. It shows how the two caps interact. Take a general category society of 60 flats planning solar for lifts, pumps, and corridor lighting.

1. Per house cap: 3 kWp x 60 flats = 180 kWp notional ceiling.
2. Overall cap: 500 kWp. The lower binds, so 180 kWp applies.
3. Proposed common facility capacity: 40 kWp.
4. CFA at ₹18,000 per kWp: 40 x 18,000 = ₹7,20,000.
5. Now assume 12 flat owners already installed 2 kWp each, so 24 kWp. The ceiling is inclusive of individual plants on the same premises, so headroom becomes 156 kWp. The 40 kWp proposal still fits.
6. Had the society proposed 200 kWp, only 156 kWp sits inside the ceiling. CFA becomes 156 x 18,000 = ₹28,08,000, and the remaining 44 kWp carries nothing.

Step 5 carries the lesson. Individual installations eat society headroom, so sequence matters. And the cap is on capacity, not cost.

Why a non-registered installer costs you the CFA

The rule is procedural, not technical. MNRE states that subsidy is transferred after “successful installation (by empanelled vendors) and verification by State DISCOMs”.

Sequence is where this goes wrong. Registration must be current at the agreement stage, not produced afterwards. A vendor listed last year, listed in another state, or trading under a related firm name does not pass. Match the portal entity to the one on your agreement and invoice.

MNRE has been widening the vendor pool by simplifying registration (PIB and MNRE, 25 March 2026), which also means untested firms appear. Registration proves scheme eligibility, not workmanship, so run the checks in the vendor verification guide too.

The risk runs both ways.

Component rules: ALMM, domestic content, and the BIS order

Three separate rulebooks decide whether equipment is scheme eligible. They cover different products, carry different dates, and get collapsed into one.

ALMM is the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers. MNRE notified it for solar PV modules from 10.04.2021 and for cells from 01.06.2026. The cell order is dated 09.12.2024 and was amended on 28.07.2025 (PIB and MNRE, 2025). It extends to ingots and wafers from 1 June 2028. No ALMM inverter list is published. For the cell timeline and its exemption window, see the ALMM List-II exemption guide.

Domestic content runs on a separate track, and MNRE has said so in terms. An ALMM order “does not relax any provisions about usage of domestically manufactured solar PV modules and domestically manufactured solar PV cells”. That is MNRE OM 283/54/2026-GRID SOLAR dated 4 August 2026. ALMM dates have moved. DCR for PM Surya Ghar has not.

Verification is mechanical now. Since 1 December 2024, a module whose DCR credentials cannot be verified on the NISE portal “shall not be accepted”. The National Portal will not take an installation without a 16-digit DCR certificate number (MNRE, 11 November 2024 and 12 April 2025). MNRE’s model consumer-vendor agreement requires that “the solar modules, including the solar cells, should be manufactured in India”.

Inverters sit under the quality control order, which has itself been superseded. MNRE’s 2017 compulsory registration order named IS 16221 (Part 2):2015 and IS 16169:2014 for PV inverters. The Solar Systems, Devices and Components Goods Order, 2025 replaced it, gazetted 27 January 2025 under the BIS Act, 2016. MNRE has since extended the inverter items on a self certification route to 31 December 2026. That relaxation has been extended more than once, so check MNRE’s lab policy page for the live notification. The inverter regulations guide explains which standard does which job.

MNRE publishes no ALMM list for inverters, so ask the seller for the exact model’s BIS registration and current certificates, and for PM Surya Ghar confirm the inverter requirements with your DISCOM. Standards cited in published Qbits documents include IS 16221, IS 16169, IEC 62109, and IEC 62116. Qbits’ public datasheets describe an expandable warranty but do not define the base term, remedy, registration deadline or exclusions, so obtain the current written warranty for the exact quoted model. Pull the on-grid inverter documents and match identifiers.

MNRE guidelines and specifications PDFs: where the official documents are

Two of the most searched phrases for this scheme are “MNRE guidelines for rooftop solar PDF” and “MNRE specifications for rooftop solar”. Both point to documents MNRE hosts itself. Use the originals, because summaries (including this one) can lag an amendment. The links below were taken from MNRE’s Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Programme page and the notices linked from it, checked on 14 October 2026.

What the technical specification annexure covers

MNRE’s “specifications” are not a separate brochure. For residential PM Surya Ghar they sit in Annexure 3 of the operational guidelines, titled technical specifications for rooftop solar plants installed under the CFA component. It lists the system components and sets minimum requirements for each. In summary:

• Modules. Domestically manufactured modules using domestically manufactured cells, tested to the relevant IEC or BIS standards (for example IEC 61215 or IS 14286, and IS/IEC 61730), with a minimum fill factor of 75% and a power temperature coefficient of -0.4% per degree C or better for crystalline modules. Module capacity must also follow the ALMM modules order.
• Inverters. Compliance with the Solar Photovoltaic Inverters Quality Control Order of 30 August 2017 and its amendments, IEC or BIS efficiency and environmental test standards, integrated MPPT, IEC 61000 electromagnetic compatibility, minimum 20% overload capability, IP54 indoor or IP65 outdoor enclosure, anti-islanding protection, and a built-in way to send system data through SIM, dongle or Wi-Fi.
• Mounting structure. Elevated structures need a minimum ground clearance of 8 feet at the lowest point to qualify for CFA. Roof-mounted structures carry their own minimum clearance from the roof surface.
• Scope and warranty. The vendor handles documentation, the project completion report, net meter supply and grid connection, attendance at DISCOM testing, and five years of comprehensive operation and maintenance. The guideline calls for a five-year system warranty from commissioning and the delivery of each component maker’s warranty papers.

The detailed clause list is long and MNRE can amend it, so treat the PDF as the reference. The DISCOM checks the installation against this annexure at inspection, so ask your vendor for a written compliance statement against it before the install. The solar inverter regulations guide explains how the inverter standards fit together.

Net metering is a state decision, not a central one

Net metering is not an MNRE subject. It comes from the Ministry of Power and your state regulator. The Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendment Rules, 2021, notified 29 June 2021, permit net metering up to 500 kW or the sanctioned load, whichever is lower. Above that comes net billing or gross metering.

The same rules then hand the working arrangement to the states. Metering type, banking period, settlement of surplus, and carry forward follow State Electricity Regulatory Commission regulations. Two identical 5 kW systems in different states can settle surplus on different terms. Gujarat’s regulator allowed rooftop net metering from 1 kW to 1 MW through its 2022 amendment regulations, beyond the central line. Others apply tighter sanctioned load or transformer limits. Read your own tariff order before sizing. The net metering guide covers the mechanics.

Where the programme stands against target, and why files stall

The honest position is real momentum plus a real approval gap. Grid connected rooftop capacity stood at 32.59 GW as on 31.08.2026, according to MNRE’s physical progress data. PM Surya Ghar accounted for 39,38,805 systems serving 47,47,341 households as on 20.07.2026, with ₹27,323.55 crore disbursed. That is MNRE’s own figure in Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 580 (2026). Two traps sit there. The 32.59 GW is all rooftop, including commercial and pre-2024 systems. And systems are not households, because one society installation serves many homes.

Now the pipeline. Over 1 crore households have registered and more than 65 lakh applications were pending (MNRE, 4 June 2026), against roughly 39 lakh completed systems. Targets are 75 lakh households by December 2026 and 1 crore by 31 March 2027.

The bottleneck is not the ministry. MNRE gives CFA processing 15 days from DISCOM approval, so every week before that approval falls outside the published clock. MNRE’s remedy list reads the same way: each measure targets friction at the utility stage. State performance varies enormously too. The net meter approval timeline separates published stages from observed delays, and the statewise capacity page shows where deployment sits.

The Bottom Line

The MNRE rooftop solar scheme is a rulebook, not a counter. MNRE writes the orders, REC Limited coordinates, and your DISCOM decides whether your file moves. Every slab, cap, and metering rule here can change by notification.

• Identify your component first: residential, group housing common facility, or non-residential. That choice fixes which rules apply.
• Verify three documents before you sign: the vendor’s current portal registration, the module’s ALMM and domestic content evidence, and the inverter’s model-specific BIS and IEC papers.
• Send your proposed configuration and your DISCOM’s net metering requirement to the Qbits team for a model-specific compliance review.

Sources checked 24 September 2026: MNRE rooftop programme, ALMM, and physical progress pages; PIB releases of 19 February 2019, 8 December 2022, 29 February 2024, 5 December 2024, 28 July 2025, 25 March 2026, and 4 June 2026.