The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has notified amendments in guidelines for implementation of PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana for the component of central financial assistance (CFA) to residential consumers.
According to the amended guidelines, the state or union government can now supplement the CFA given by the central government with an additional subsidy for rooftop systems. Furthermore, under the revised CFA structure of the PM-Surya Ghar Yojana, residential consumers will receive Rs 30,000 per kW for the first 2 kW of the solar capacity. An additional 1 kW capacity will attract Rs 18,000 per kW whereas no subsidy is available for capacities beyond 3 kW. Special category states and union territories have slightly higher CFA which is Rs 33,000 per kW for the first 2 kW and Rs 19,800 per kW for the next 1 kW. Additionally, group housing societies and residential welfare associations can also use CFA for common facilities such as lighting and electric vehicle charging. In such a scenario, CFA will be limited to a maximum of 3 kW per house, capped at 500 kW overall. Only projects with modules manufactured domestically and solar cells will be eligible for CFA. Further, the amended guidelines include a five year mandatory maintenance period by vendors and outlines penalties and de-registration in case of poor service.