PM Surya Ghar and solar subsidy guide: 2026

What the scheme pays

PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana is the central government’s scheme for rooftop solar. Its central financial assistance, the subsidy, is paid after the system is installed and inspected.

For	Subsidy
A home, 1 kW	₹30,000
A home, 2 kW	₹60,000
A home, 3 kW or more	₹78,000
A housing society or RWA, common facilities	₹18,000 per kW, up to 500 kW

For a home, the subsidy stops rising at 3 kW: each kW above that is paid for in full. A society’s limit includes the systems its residents have already installed on their own homes. See solar for housing societies.

Who qualifies

• The electricity connection is in the applicant’s own name.
• The applicant owns the house, and the roof gets sun for most of the day and can carry the structure.
• The system is grid-connected, with a net meter: on-grid or hybrid.
• The panels are DCR and on the ALMM list.
• The system is no larger than the sanctioned load.
• No rooftop solar subsidy has been claimed on that connection before.

Businesses, shops and factories do not qualify; the scheme is for homes and housing societies.

Check the 300 free units first

Punjab gives homes 300 free units a month (600 on a two-month bill). If your home stays under that, your bill is already zero and the subsidy cannot make solar pay. General-category homes over the line pay for every unit, and that is where a subsidised system saves most. SC, BC, non-SC BPL and Freedom Fighter households pay only for units above 300.

You pay first, the subsidy follows

The subsidy never comes off the installer’s invoice. You pay the full price, and the subsidy is paid into your own bank account 30 to 45 days after the DISCOM inspection. If you borrow, the lender is repaid on its own schedule; the subsidy does not go to the lender.

The claim in six steps

Documents to keep ready

Why claims get held up

• Panels that are not DCR or not on the ALMM list. This cannot be fixed after installation.
• A system larger than the sanctioned load. Get the load increased first.
• Names that do not match across the bill, the application and the bank account.
• A connection still in a late parent’s name. Transfer it first.
• Installing before feasibility approval, or a vendor not registered on the portal.
• Missing photos or serial numbers at the commissioning stage.

The PM Surya Ghar loan

The government’s release of 11 March 2025 gave the scheme’s bank loan at a subsidised 6.75%, collateral-free for loans up to ₹2 lakh, through 12 public-sector banks. The rate moves with wider interest rates, so ask your bank for its current one. The PM Surya Ghar loan and five ways to finance solar cover the options.

Buying without the subsidy

A system bought outside the scheme does not need DCR panels, and in some cases costs less up front. Whether it works out cheaper overall depends on the exact system, so ask for a side-by-side price.