Chandigarh, Feb 04 : Nearly two years after the rollout of the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, Chandigarh has registered 1,026 rooftop solar installations, reflecting steady adoption of renewable energy among households. A total of 1,542 applications had been submitted on the national portal as of January 28, 2026, Union Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy and Power Shripad Yesso Naik informed the Rajya Sabha.
The minister noted that the programme is demand driven and available to residential consumers with grid connected electricity. Several procedural changes have been introduced to accelerate deployment, including waiving technical feasibility approvals, enabling automatic load enhancement for systems up to 10 kW, and digitising net metering agreements to minimise commissioning delays.
Subsidies and financial support drive adoption
The initiative provides central financial assistance covering 60% of the cost for rooftop systems up to 2 kW and 40% for the incremental capacity between 2 kW and 3 kW, subject to a 3 kW cap. Households also benefit from up to 300 units of free electricity each month, reduced power bills, and access to collateral-free loans at concessional interest rates through nationalised banks.
Naik added that the entire process from registration to subsidy release has been moved online, making it easier for applicants to participate while linking loan rates to the repo rate.
Government buildings lead solar transition
Chandigarh has achieved a cumulative rooftop solar capacity of 103 MWp across 11,663 locations. All 377 government non-residential structures have reached full rooftop solar coverage, while most eligible government housing units have also been equipped with panels.
Additionally, 37 buildings now operate at net-zero energy, generating enough solar power annually to offset their consumption.
Officials say the milestone strengthens Chandigarh’s ambition to emerge as a model solar city while supporting its long-term objective of achieving net-zero energy status across public infrastructure.