Lok Sabha Question No. 633 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-03
Subject: Rooftop Solar Adoption
Ministry: NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
Asked by: Dr. T Sumathy Alias Thamizhachi Thangapandian

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 633

ANSWERED ON 03.12.2025

## ROOFTOP SOLAR ADOPTION

## 633. DR. T SUMATHY ALIAS THAMIZHACHI THANGAPANDIAN

Will the Minister of NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken note of the low rooftop solar adoption in dense urban coastal areas such as South Chennai, despite high solar potential and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  the reasons for delays in approval and subsidy disbursal under the rooftop solar programme for households and institutions in Chennai;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to support grid-upgradation or simplified net metering to address these constraints and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)  the steps being taken to increase urban solar penetration in Tamil Nadu?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF  STATE  FOR NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND POWER

## (SHRI SHRIPAD YESSO NAIK)

(a)  to  (d)  PM  Surya  Ghar:  Muft  Bijli  Yojana  (PMSG:  MBY)  is  a  demand  driven  scheme  for installation of rooftop solar (RTS) systems, wherein all residential consumers in the country having grid connected electricity connection of the local DISCOM can avail the benefits of the scheme by applying on the National Portal of the scheme.

In Chennai district covering South Chennai, a total of 6,394 applications received on the National portal of the scheme as on 30.11.2025, and a total of 5,307 RTS systems have been installed, benefitting 7,357 households.

The households installing rooftop solar plants under the PMSG: MBY can redeem the subsidy once  the  installation  is  inspected  and  approved  by  the  respective  DISCOM.  On  applying  for redemption of subsidy, the process for disbursement of subsidy is initiated and the same is released into the bank account of the beneficiary, which normally takes 15 days.

As per prevailing orders in the state of Tamil Nadu, the households installing rooftop solar under PMSG: MBY are covered under net-metering mechanism, wherein the solar power generated is adjusted against the electricity consumption of the household, thereby reducing the total electricity bill.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has taken following steps to increase penetration of PMSG: MBY across the country including the urban areas in state of Tamil Nadu:

- Online process from registration to disbursal of subsidy directly into the bank account of the residential consumer through National Portal.
- Availability of collateral free loan from nationalized banks at concessional interest rate of repo-rate plus 50 bps i.e. 6% per annum for the present with tenure of 10 years.
- Simplified the regulatory approval process by waiving technical feasibility requirement and introducing auto load enhancement upto 10 kW.
- Included RESCO/ Utility led Aggregation (ULA) Models
- Net metering agreement has been made part of application in the National Portal.
- Simplified process for registration of vendors to ensure sufficient and qualified vendors are available.
- Capacity building and training programmes  being  conducted  for creating skilled manpower.
- Creating awareness about the scheme, through awareness and outreach program such as print  advertising  in  leading  newspapers,  TV  commercials  campaigns,  Radio  campaigns across FM stations including regional channels, etc., in the country.
- Regular  monitoring  of  the  progress  of  the  scheme  at  different  levels  including  with states/DISCOMs.
- Conducting regional review meetings.
- Established  grievance  redressal  mechanism  for  timely  resolution  of  grievances.  A  Call Centre with telephone number 15555 is operational in 12 languages.

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