Thenhi village becomes the first ‘PM Surya Ghar’ Model Village in the district under the Prime Minister’s Surya Ghar Free Electricity Scheme with the installation of a 142-kilowatt community solar plant, in Dhamtari on Wednesday
| Photo Credit: ANI
India’s flagship PM Surya Ghar scheme has seen daily rooftop solar installations surge more than three-fold in the past nine months, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said at the seventh CII International Energy Conference on Thursday.
“The pace of [daily] installations has increased about 3.2 times in just nine months from 5,000 installations per day in October 2025 to over 16,328 per day in July 2026,” he said.
Separately in his address, the Union Minister also stated that India has added non-fossil capacity of more than 300 gigawatts (GW) a decade ago and is “on path to cross 500 GW capacity by 2030”.
Mr. Joshi also reiterated that the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana has more than 50 lakh beneficiaries with one lakh beneficiaries added every six days.
The flagship scheme seeks to provide free electricity to households by facilitating the installation of rooftop solar panels. The scheme closes on March 31, 2027.
Mr. Joshi also reiterated that the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana has more than 50 lakh beneficiaries with one lakh beneficiaries added every six days. He also informed that about 19 lakh households are receiving zero electricity bills because of the scheme.
Further, more than 12 lakh households have cumulatively earned ₹421 crore through the sale of surplus power in fiscal year 2024-25., translating as an extra income of around ₹3,500 per year per household .
Published – August 06, 2026 10:22 pm IST
