PM-Surya Ghar-Muft Bijli Yojana: Guidelines Issued for 'Model Solar Village’; Winning Village to Receive Rs 1 Crore

The Scheme Guidelines for implementation of ‘Model Solar Village’ under 'PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana' have been notified by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Under the 'Model Solar Village' component of the scheme, emphasis has been made on creating one Model Solar Village per district across India, with the goal of promoting solar energy adoption and enabling village communities to become self-reliant in meeting their energy needs.

A total financial outlay of Rs 800 crore has been allocated for this component, providing Rs 1 crore per selected Model Solar Village, according to an official release. In order to be considered under the competition mode, a village must be a revenue village with a population size above 5,000 (or 2,000 for special category states).

The selection process involves competitive mode where villages are assessed on their overall distributed renewable energy (RE) capacity installed on 6 months after the declaration of the potential candidate by District Level Committee (DLC).

The winning village in each district, with the highest RE capacity, will receive a central financial assistance grant of Rs 1 crore. The implementation of this scheme will be done by State/UT Renewable Energy Development Agency under the supervision of District Level Committee (DLC), ensuring that selected villages transition effectively to solar-powered communities and serve as model for other villages across the country.

The Government of India approved the 'PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana' in February 2024 to increase the share of solar rooftop capacity and empower residential households to generate their own electricity. The scheme, with an outlay of Rs 75,021 crore, is to be implemented till FY 2026-27.