Government support · India
The money side of PM Surya Ghar: how the amount is built up per kilowatt, why it stops rising at 3 kW, which costs sit outside it, and what delays the transfer into your account. If you have already applied and the money has not arrived, start at subsidy status — where to check it and why it stalls. For eligibility and the application sequence, see the full scheme guide · who qualifies · how to apply.
It is calculated per kilowatt, at a higher rate for the first two kilowatts and a lower rate for the third. That produces Rs 30,000 at 1 kW, Rs 60,000 at 2 kW, and Rs 78,000 at 3 kW once the third kilowatt adds Rs 18,000. Nothing further is added beyond 3 kW, so a 5 kW or 10 kW residential system receives the same Rs 78,000.
It follows what is actually commissioned rather than what you applied for. If the installed capacity ends up smaller than planned because of a roof constraint, a shading problem or a load limit discovered on site, the assistance is calculated on the smaller figure.
The assistance offsets part of the system cost, but several items commonly sit outside a headline quotation: net-meter and processing charges from your distribution company, load enhancement if your chosen capacity exceeds the sanctioned load on your bill, extra structure height or heavier specification for coastal and high-wind sites, civil and waterproofing work at anchor points, earthing and lightning protection, and interest if you are borrowing.
Installation alone does not trigger payment; inspection and net-meter commissioning must be completed and accepted first. After that, most delays are banking rather than policy: the name on the electricity connection, the Aadhaar record and the bank account should correspond, and the account must be active with complete KYC and correctly linked to receive a Direct Benefit Transfer.
Plan your payback on the central assistance alone. State support is generally assessed against the rules in force when your system is commissioned rather than when you applied, and commissioning can be months later. Treat any state amount as upside, and verify it against an official state energy department or distribution company notice matching your commissioning date.
How much
Paid as Direct Benefit Transfer to your bank after the system is commissioned — not deducted as a shop “discount” you must take on trust.
| System size | Central subsidy | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 kW | ₹30,000 | ₹30,000 per kW for first 2 kW |
| 2 kW | ₹60,000 | Full amount for 2 kW |
| 3 kW or more | ₹78,000 max | ₹60,000 for first 2 kW + ₹18,000 for 3rd kW; ceiling ₹78,000 |
Most states rely on this central amount unless a live state top-up is announced. Verify on the national portal. DISCOM steps differ (e.g. APSPDCL, TGSPDCL, BESCOM, TANGEDCO). Flat / society CFA can follow a different ₹18,000/kW GHS path — see apartment solar. Breakdown for 1, 2 and 3 kW, plus special-category extras: PM Surya Ghar subsidy amount.
Last reviewed
"Up to ₹78,000" is a ceiling, not an entitlement, and it helps to see how the figure is assembled rather than memorising three numbers. Assistance is calculated per kilowatt, at a higher rate for the first two kilowatts and a lower rate for the third:
Read that last point carefully, because it changes the economics of upsizing. If a 3 kW system costs you a certain amount net of assistance, the fourth and fifth kilowatts are bought at their full price with no support at all. The average cost per kilowatt of a 5 kW system still looks reasonable on a quotation; the marginal cost of the capacity you added does not. That is the arithmetic behind 3 kW vs 5 kW.
Assistance is also tied to what is actually commissioned, not to what you applied for. If the installed capacity ends up smaller than planned — a roof constraint discovered on site, a shading problem, a load limit — the amount follows the smaller figure.
The number that matters is not the subsidy and not the quotation. It is the net cost your bill has to recover, and there are more items in it than most quotations show.
Start with the gross quoted price, then check whether these are inside it or waiting to surprise you:
Net cost is the total of all of that, minus the assistance you will actually receive. Divide it by your realistic annual saving and you have a payback period you can trust. The method is worked through in costs, savings and payback, and the free bill check does the arithmetic against your own consumption.
One caution on the savings side: a unit you consume while the panels are generating avoids your full retail tariff, while a surplus unit exported is settled at a lower value under the tariff order in force at commissioning. A savings estimate that treats every generated unit as worth your retail rate is overstated — see net metering in India.
Because this is a Direct Benefit Transfer, the money reaches you through your bank rather than through your installer, and most of what delays it is banking detail rather than solar policy.
Full eligibility conditions, documents and the portal sequence are on the PM Surya Ghar guide, with the checklist in who qualifies and the steps in how to apply.
Some states announce additional support layered on the central amount, and it is genuinely worth having when it applies. It is not worth planning on, for one specific reason: eligibility is generally assessed against the rules in force when your system is commissioned, not when you applied — and commissioning can be months later.
So build your payback on the central assistance alone and treat any state amount as upside that either clears or does not. Before counting on one, check that an official state energy department or distribution company notice matches your own commissioning date, rather than relying on an installer's summary or a news report. Our framing is in state top-up subsidies.
Flats and group housing follow different provisions from individual households, so do not apply the household bands to a society terrace — see apartment rooftop solar. Tenants should start with solar for tenants, since both the connection holder and the roof owner matter. And note that commercial and industrial connections sit outside this residential route entirely: what counts is the category of the connection, not the kind of building.
Myths
The scheme subsidises cost; it does not mean zero-rupee panels for every household. SC/ST special packages in some districts are separate programmes — ask your DISCOM, do not assume. State-by-state: SC/ST solar subsidy.
Subsidy is DBT to the consumer after portal rules are met. Prefer empanelled vendors and track status on the official site.
It does not. The CFA is for grid-connected rooftop photovoltaic systems that generate electricity, not solar thermal water heating. Some states have run separate water-heater promotions, unrelated to this scheme — see water heater vs panels.
Not on this route — the CFA follows a residential connection. Businesses have a different set of levers instead, set out in commercial rooftop solar.
No. We only help you understand fit and money. Apply at pmsuryaghar.gov.in.
