PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, Complete 2026 Guide

Most guides on PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana stop at one number, ₹78,000. It is a real number. It is also the least useful fact about the scheme.

The number that decides your outcome is different. It is whether your records line up with what the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) guidelines actually require. Your consumer account, roof, modules, vendor, and bank details all have to agree. Applications rarely fail on the slab. They fail on a mismatch nobody checked before the installer arrived.

This guide walks the scheme as a procedure. It covers who qualifies, who is excluded by design, and the published slabs with the date they were set. It follows the journey from the national portal through DISCOM (distribution company) feasibility to inspection and disbursal. It sets out the documents each stage demands, where the timeline stalls, how state top-ups stack, and why applications get rejected.

There is a worked example of the arithmetic. There is also the part nobody sells you, which is what the scheme does not pay for. Qbits publishes this as a reference, not as an application page. Apply on the official national portal, and confirm everything against your own DISCOM.

Short version. PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana is MNRE’s central scheme for grid-connected residential rooftop solar. It pays ₹30,000 per kWp for the first 2 kWp and ₹18,000 for the third, capped at ₹78,000 in general-category states. You apply on the national portal, pick a registered vendor, and install with DCR modules. The DISCOM then inspects and meters the system, and you redeem an e-token for direct transfer.

Who the scheme covers, and who it excludes

Eligibility is narrower than most quotes suggest. The MNRE guidelines define an eligible plant as a grid-connected solar system tagged to a particular residential power connection of the local DISCOM. It must sit on a roof, terrace, balcony, or on top of an elevated structure. Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) also qualifies. Everything outside that definition is out.

The exclusions are explicit in the guidelines (MNRE, 2024):

• No assistance for non-residential segments, which covers government, commercial, and industrial connections.
• Off-grid installations are not eligible.
• A system that is shifted or relocated after installation is not eligible.
• Assistance is available only once after installation.
• RESCO (renewable energy service company) and utility-led or state-led aggregation models fall outside these guidelines, which deal with capex mode only.

Group net metering and virtual net metering installations are eligible. The array must still sit on a permitted structure, and the DISCOM must approve the metering arrangement. Group housing societies and resident welfare associations (RWAs) have their own route for common facilities. Our eligibility breakdown goes deeper on the edge cases.

Central assistance slabs, and the date they were set

Central Financial Assistance (CFA) is calculated on installed solar module capacity, not on what you paid. The rates below took effect from 13 February 2024, per the MNRE operational guidelines for the residential CFA component (MNRE, 2024). MNRE reserves the right to amend them. Treat any slab you read online, including this one, as a figure to re-verify on the portal.

The guidelines name the special-category States and UTs. They are Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and the North Eastern states including Sikkim. The UTs of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep are also on that list (MNRE, 2024).

Two points get missed. First, the slab is driven by module capacity, not inverter rating. Assistance is calculated on the rated DC capacity of the module system, irrespective of inverter size. Second, the RWA ceiling includes individual rooftop plants already installed by residents in that society.

Worked example: how the arithmetic actually runs

This is a worked example using published MNRE figures. It is arithmetic, not a quotation, and not a prediction of your approval.

Inputs. General-category state. Installed module capacity 3 kWp. MNRE benchmark cost of ₹50,000 per kW for the first 2 kW and ₹45,000 for the additional kW (MNRE, 2024).

Now change one input. Keep the state, raise capacity to 5 kWp. CFA stays ₹78,000, because the slab stops at 3 kWp. Assistance per kWp falls from ₹26,000 to ₹15,600. That is the real decision point for anyone sizing above 3 kWp.

PM Surya Ghar yojana price list: what the MNRE benchmark cost means

People search for a “PM Surya Ghar price list” expecting a rate card for solar systems. There is no government price list that sets what an installer may charge. The guidelines say the consumer and the registered vendor agree rates between themselves, and that DISCOMs do not run tenders or rate discovery for this scheme.

What MNRE does publish is a benchmark cost, and the subsidy is a percentage of it. Per the guidelines, the benchmark has applied since 13 February 2024: ₹50,000 per kW for the first 2 kW and ₹45,000 for each additional kW. For the special-category States and UTs it is ₹55,000 for the first 2 kW and ₹49,500 for each additional kW. The central assistance is 60% of the benchmark for the first 2 kWp and 40% of the benchmark for the additional kWp (MNRE, 2024; checked October 2026).

Part-kilowatts are paid pro rata. The guidelines’ own examples are 1.5 kW at ₹45,000 and 2.5 kW at ₹69,000.

Three readings of this table matter:

• It is not a quote. A real quote depends on module and inverter choice, roof type, structure, cable run and the vendor’s margin. A quote above or below the benchmark does not change the assistance, which depends only on installed module capacity.
• It is not a cap on your spend. Nothing in the guidelines stops you paying more than the benchmark. Equally, the CFA is not reduced if you pay less.
• Indicative component costs are a separate item. The guidelines say MNRE will publish indicative costs for modules, inverters and other equipment so consumers are not overcharged. Check the national portal for the current list rather than trusting a screenshot, and use it alongside the solar quotation checklist. The vendor profile on the portal is also meant to show the specifications and prices that vendor offers.

If you want the subsidy figure for an exact size without doing the arithmetic, the PM Surya Ghar subsidy amount guide has size-by-size tables.

The application journey, step by step

The whole scheme runs through one national portal. There is no offline route for claiming assistance. The sequence below follows the method of implementation set out in the MNRE guidelines (MNRE, 2024).

1. Register on the national portal with a valid consumer account number for your distribution utility. The portal generates an application ID.
2. Choose a vendor registered on the portal. The guidelines require this. There is no DISCOM tendering. The portal carries vendor profiles, ratings, and consumer feedback for comparison.
3. Agree design and commercial terms in writing. Design, components, and payment schedule are mutually decided. The guidelines attach a sample consumer and vendor agreement.
4. Clear feasibility. Under the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, applications up to 10 kW are deemed accepted without DISCOM technical feasibility approval. Until your state regulator or DISCOM operationalises that provision, you upload documents and wait as per state rules.
5. Install. The registered vendor supplies, installs, tests, runs safety checks, and briefs you on maintenance.
6. Update the portal. You submit installation details and upload documents, including geo-tagged photographs. The vendor can assist, but the consumer login holds the rights.
7. DISCOM inspection and metering. The DISCOM inspects against a checklist, installs the meter, and signs the metering agreement. It can approve, return the file, or reject with justification.
8. Redeem the e-token. An e-token is generated at application and activated after inspection with the eligible amount. You redeem it from your portal profile, and assistance is released to your account.

Vendor selection quietly decides the rest. Our registered vendor checklist covers verification, and the application walkthrough covers portal mechanics.

Choosing the vendor: what the guidelines let you check

Vendor choice is the one decision the scheme leaves entirely to you, so it deserves more care than the subsidy slab. Three provisions in the guidelines help.

First, the vendor must be registered on the national portal, either at state level with the DISCOM or nodal agency, or at national level through the programme’s implementation agency. Second, the registered vendor’s profile is meant to show the system specifications offered, prices offered, key contacts, a vendor rating and consumer feedback. The rating is based on the scale of installations, equipment quality, workmanship and service. Third, a registered vendor owes the consumer five years of free repair and maintenance under the Comprehensive Maintenance Contract from commissioning, and must hand over the component manufacturers’ warranty documents.

The guidelines also let MNRE or the state agency inspect installations and de-register a vendor or levy penalties for non-compliant work, after notice. That is a process safeguard, not a guarantee about any single vendor.

Before you pay an advance, compare at least three registered vendors on written scope, not just price: module make and model, inverter make and model, structure, cabling, who handles the DISCOM paperwork, and who answers the phone after commissioning. For how to find the vendor list district by district and what a portal record does and does not prove, read the homeowner’s vendor verification guide. Installers who need to register will find the steps in the installer registration guide.

Documents you need at each stage

Documents arrive in waves, and each wave has a different owner. Confusing them stalls files. At application you supply identity and connection records. After installation your vendor supplies technical records. At disbursal your bank record has to survive a check.

The guidelines are specific. The vendor must hand you those technical documents and help upload them. A vendor who refuses is a signal, not an inconvenience. The full document checklist lists state-level variations.

Loans and the finance route

You do not need to pay the whole system cost from savings. The guidelines let the consumer opt for financing through the national portal, where loan products from banks and financial institutions are listed and can be selected through the Jan Samarth portal integration or directly with the lender. They say that standardised low-interest loan products, priced in the range of the repo rate plus 50 basis points, are envisaged for residential systems up to 3 kW, and that similar products should exist for sizes above 3 kW that get no subsidy.

How the loan and the subsidy interact:

• If you take a loan, you enter the loan account details in your consumer profile. When you redeem the e-token, the CFA is credited to the loan account rather than your savings account.
• If the CFA is larger than the outstanding loan, the loan is cleared first and the remainder goes to your bank account.
• Banks make their own credit decisions. A subsidy-eligible system does not guarantee a sanctioned loan.

On rates, the Press Information Bureau reported in March 2025 that PM Surya Ghar loans of up to ₹2 lakh were available collateral-free at about 6.75% from public sector banks (PIB, March 2025). Lender rates move, and secondary sources quote different current figures, so confirm the rate, tenure and processing time with the lender or on the portal before you plan around a number. Our guides to inverter and solar financing options and choosing a bank for a solar loan compare the practical differences.

Realistic timelines, and where files actually stall

Here is the honest position. The MNRE guidelines fix only two clocks. Central assistance is processed within 15 days of DISCOM approval. Grievances raised through the portal, app, or national call centre are to be resolved within 30 days. Every other stage runs on state regulations and DISCOM capacity, which vary widely.

So the delay is almost never in the 15-day window. It sits in three places.

First, feasibility. Where a state has not yet operationalised the deemed-approval provision for systems up to 10 kW, the file waits in a DISCOM queue. Second, inspection and metering. The DISCOM must physically verify the system and fit the meter before the claim can move. In areas where smart metering was awarded under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme, the meter must come through the appointed metering service provider. Third, correction loops. A returned file restarts a queue position.

Track the file yourself rather than relying on your installer’s word. The status check guide explains what each portal label means. The net metering application guide covers the metering stage in detail.

How to size a system under the scheme

The slab stops at 3 kWp, but your roof and your bills do not. A sensible sequence:

1. Start from the bills. Average your units consumed over the last 12 months from your electricity bills, so seasonal air-conditioner load is counted.
2. Convert units to kW. A common planning figure is that each kW of modules yields roughly 4 to 5 units a day, or around 120 to 150 units a month, in much of India. Actual output depends on location, tilt, shading, soiling and temperature, so ask the vendor for a generation estimate for your roof and treat it as an estimate, not a promise.
3. Check sanctioned load. A proposed capacity above your sanctioned load can trigger a load-enhancement step first. Confirm the rule with your DISCOM.
4. Check the roof. As a rough guide, each kW needs about 8 to 10 square metres of shadow-free area. Water tanks, parapets and neighbouring buildings change this.
5. Compare sizes against the slab. Up to 3 kWp every added kW earns subsidy, although the third kW earns less (₹18,000) than the first two (₹30,000 each). Above 3 kWp the subsidy is flat, so the extra kW is justified only by your own consumption, not by the scheme.

A system sized well above your consumption exports more power, and the credit you receive for exports is set by your state regulator, not by the central scheme. For the engineering side, including string layout, MPPT channels and DC to AC ratios, see the solar inverter sizing guide and the string sizing calculator.

After commissioning: net metering and your bill

Once the DISCOM has inspected the system and fitted the meter, your connection records energy in both directions. The guidelines say all metering arrangements approved by the state regulator are covered by the scheme: net metering, gross metering, net billing, virtual net metering and group net metering. Which one applies to you, and how surplus units are credited or paid for, depends on your state’s regulations.

Under net metering, the units you export are set against the units you import in the billing cycle, so you pay for the difference plus fixed charges. The “300 free units” headline is a rough generation estimate for a 3 kW system, not an entitlement. A zero or near-zero bill depends on your consumption, the system’s actual output, your tariff and your DISCOM’s fixed charges, and the scheme does not promise it. Self-consumption during daylight usually saves more than exporting, because the import tariff is typically higher than the export credit, but check your own state’s numbers.

Read the net metering complete guide for state rules, the net metering application guide for the paperwork, and the net meter approval timeline for how long each stage can run.

State top-up subsidies, and how they stack

State assistance is a separate layer with separate rules. The MNRE guidelines permit State and UT governments to supplement the central amount for the residential sector. The state framework must align with central support and adhere to scheme guidelines, and disbursement of the state component is to be integrated with the national portal (MNRE, 2024).

There is a gate on it. Under the MoU clause of the guidelines, MNRE and the State or UT must sign a Memorandum of Understanding, and that MoU is mandatory for releasing any additional state or UT subsidy under the scheme. In practice your total is central plus state, claimed through linked but distinct processes. The state amount depends on where you live and on that state’s budget and order for the year you apply.

Published state figures circulate widely and go stale quickly. The table below lists only what we could confirm against an official state source on 14 October 2026. States that are not listed are not necessarily without a top-up. It means we found no current official order we could cite, and the secondary sources we saw contradicted each other.

Two cautions follow from this. First, if a vendor quotes a state top-up, ask for the order number and date, and check that the application route is the one the order describes. Second, state subsidies can be limited to the first batch of applicants or tied to a particular installation model, as the Delhi formula shows, so a figure that was true in one month can lapse in the next. The all-states subsidy tracker is the starting point for a state-by-state check, and the Delhi guide covers that state in more depth.

Where the scheme stands in October 2026

The Cabinet approved PM Surya Ghar on 29 February 2024 with an outlay of ₹75,021 crore, to be implemented till FY 2026-27, which ends on 31 March 2027. The target is rooftop solar in one crore households. The guidelines also say the scheme is fund-limited and that applications on the national portal are limited to one crore active applications, after which MNRE may set a time period for completing installations.

Progress is substantial but behind the original trajectory. The Press Information Bureau reported more than 33 lakh systems installed and over ₹22,750 crore disbursed as of May 2026 (PIB, 2026). Gaps between registrations and commissioned systems usually come from the stages described above: DISCOM inspection capacity, smart-meter availability and vendor coverage in smaller towns. We found no official announcement extending the scheme beyond March 2027 as of 14 October 2026. If you plan to install, work back from 31 March 2027 and allow for DISCOM queues, because a system must be commissioned and the claim processed under the rules in force. Check pmsuryaghar.gov.in for any change.

Why applications get rejected

Rejections cluster around identity, capacity, and equipment. These are not judgement calls by an officer. They are checks against records that either match or do not. Almost every one of them can be caught before the installer reaches your roof, which is the cheapest place to catch them.

• Record mismatch. Name and details on your Aadhaar, electricity bill, and bank account have to reconcile.
• Wrong consumer category. The connection must be residential. Commercial and agricultural connections are ineligible.
• Size against sanctioned load. A proposal larger than your sanctioned load invites a feasibility problem first.
• Non-DCR modules. Use of non-DCR modules in any form renders the installation ineligible. Paperwork cannot fix this.
• Unregistered vendor. Assistance flows only through vendors registered on the national portal.
• Failed inspection. The DISCOM checks against MNRE minimum technical specifications. Non-compliant equipment holds the claim.
• Bank account problems. A wrong IFSC, or an account that fails the transfer check, stops approved money.

The detailed rejection reasons guide covers the fix for each.

What the scheme does not cover

This is the section installers skip. PM Surya Ghar is a capital subsidy on residential grid-connected module capacity. It is not a general clean-energy grant. Several claims that get repeated in sales conversations do not survive the guidelines, and each exclusion below is written into them rather than inferred.

It does not make solar free. The assistance is a share of a benchmark cost, not the whole invoice. At 3 kWp in a general-category state, ₹78,000 against a ₹1,45,000 benchmark is 53.8%. The rest is yours, and your quote is negotiated.

It does not pay for batteries. The guidelines allow additional components such as battery storage, small wind hybrids, and trackers. Assistance is still calculated on installed solar module capacity. There is no separate grant for storage. The battery storage update tracks how this may evolve.

It does not reward oversizing. Beyond 3 kWp the central slab is nil.

It does not promise a zero bill. More than 17 lakh households have reached zero electricity bills, according to PIB (2026). That is a count of households, not a forecast for yours. Your outcome depends on consumption, generation, your tariff, and your state’s net metering and settlement rules.

It does not replace warranty diligence. Registered vendors owe five years of free repairs and maintenance under a Comprehensive Maintenance Contract (CMC) from the commissioning date. Manufacturer warranties on components are separate documents, and you should hold them.

The scheme is working at volume. Over 1 crore households have registered on the national portal. More than 33 lakh systems were installed as of May 2026, adding over 12 GW. More than ₹22,750 crore had been disbursed, according to a PIB release on the scheme’s second anniversary (PIB, 2026). Volume is not certainty for any single file.

Where the inverter fits in the compliance chain

Do not conflate the module list with the inverter rules. MNRE’s Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) publishes solar PV module and cell lists. It is not an inverter list. The DCR applies to modules made from domestically manufactured cells.

Inverters sit in the scheme’s technical annexure instead. It requires compliance with the Solar Photovoltaic Inverters Quality Control Order dated 30 August 2017 and its amendments. It adds the applicable BIS and IEC standards for efficiency measurement and environmental testing. Integrated maximum power point tracking, electromagnetic compatibility, minimum 20% overload capability, anti-islanding protection, and inbuilt data communication are all specified (MNRE, 2024).

The consequence is simple. Your inverter cannot raise the subsidy, but a non-compliant one can hold it up at inspection. Qbits sells solar inverters, not modules or installation. Its published product documents cite standards including IS 16221, IS 16169, and IEC 62109. Pull the exact model datasheet for your DISCOM rather than relying on a brochure line. Our on-grid inverter range sets out where each topology fits, and the hybrid inverter range covers battery-ready systems, which still earn assistance only on module capacity. For the institutions behind the scheme and the official guideline PDFs, see the MNRE rooftop solar scheme guide.

The Bottom Line

PM Surya Ghar rewards preparation, not optimism. The slab is fixed and public. What varies is whether your records, your roof, your equipment, and your DISCOM’s process align before money is spent. Treat the scheme as a compliance exercise with a subsidy attached, and the file moves.