Budget 2024 PM Surya Ghar Scheme: Prevent Glitches, Increase Subsidy, Streamline Loan Process, Say Experts

While the PM Surya Ghar Program, which aims to install 10 million rooftop solar projects across the country, continues to face challenges regarding subsidy disbursements, stakeholders share their expectations ahead of the Union Budget.

Experts say that there have been glitches on the PM Surya Ghar National Portal for the past two months. Also as per a report by Mercom last week, subsidies under the rooftop solar program have been delayed by over six months though some started receiving them in June. Security concerns have also arisen, as consumer numbers can be registered or linked to any mobile number without proper one-time password (OTP) verification.

Industry stakeholders say the government should increase the budget for subsidies, upgrade grid infrastructure, streamline the loan availing process, fund public awareness campaigns, and create incentives for private sector investments in solar technology and infrastructure.

Under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana aims a subsidy of Rs. 78,000 is available for solar systems exceeding 3 kW,  for households using more than 300 units per month. A Rs 30,000 per KW subsidy is available for solar panels with capacities up to 2 kW. 

Also read; Budget 2024: Mutual Fund Industry Calls For Tax Incentives

Stakeholders Share Expectations

Rakesh Kumar Jha, Partner - Energy Sector Solutions, Sustainability and ESG, BDO India said, "Despite benefits of PM Surya Muft Ghar Bijli Yojna, people without necessary battery storage cannot use stored solar power during non-sunny periods or with no supply from the grid. The high upfront and maintenance costs of batteries remain major deterrents. For low- and middle-income households, the subsidy disbursement only after complete installation is a major deterrent.  To address this, the process for providing loans should be further streamlined also with more favourable terms." 

Says Sandiip Bhammer, Founder and Co-Managing Partner of climate tech VC Firm Green Frontier Capital, "The government should increase budget allocations to provide substantial subsidies. For technical integration of solar systems into the national grid is essential, the budget should allocate funds considering the increased distributed generation from solar installations. The government should create incentives for private sector investments in solar technology and infrastructure. Also, some allocation should be maintained to provide affordable maintenance services of already installed plants."

Manoj Gopalan Nair, Sr. Director, Sales-India, of Enphase Energy said, "We hope the upcoming Union budget will include more subsidies to boost adoption. There is an industry-wide call for increasing the number of installers and investing more in solar awareness campaigns."

"The budget may propose initiatives for microinverter technologies, which offer advantages in safety, scalability, and monitoring capabilities. This approach allows homeowners to start with smaller installations and expand over time," he said. Concurrently, the government may invest in a centralised dashboard to monitor solar performance and usage at local levels, Nair added.

Shreya Mishra, Co-Founder of rooftop solar company SolarSquare said,  "Though PM SuryaGhar Yojana is a well-thought-through government scheme with a grand design, the national solar portal, the central piece for the implementation of the scheme, has had several glitches in the past since April frustrating solar companies and customers. We hope the portal will be streamlined soon."

Though around one crore households have registered for PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana only around 80,000 actual installations have happened since the launch of the scheme in February 2024, she pointed out.