About 70% of PM Surya Ghar Yojana applicants under EPDCL limits generating power on their rooftops, says official

About 70% of PM Surya Ghar Yojana applicants under EPDCL limits generating power on their rooftops, says official

About 70% of the 14,312 genuine applicants of the PM Surya Ghar (PMSG) scheme under the Visakhapatnam-based Eastern Power Distribution Company of A.P. Limited (APEPDCL) are generating the electricity on their rooftops. Solar Rooftop Photovoltaic (SRTPV) systems have been installed on their roof in 11 districts under the North Coastal Andhra Discom.

Residential consumers can install SRTPV under the scheme. The electricity generated is directly supplied to the government power grid. The Discom adjusts the value of the electricity generated in the electricity bill of the scheme beneficiary. For example, if the value of the electricity generated is ₹60, but the beneficiary’s electricity consumption is around ₹100. Then, the Discom charges only ₹40. If the beneficiary consumes more electricity than the electricity generated under the scheme, he or she will have to pay the electricity charges by deducting it from the value of the electricity generated.

Beneficiaries of this scheme will get subsidies of up to 60% for installation of rooftop solar plants. For a 1 kilowatt (KW) capacity plant, consumers will get a subsidy of ₹30,000, an approximate total installation cost of which will be around ₹60,000 to ₹80,000. Similarly, for 2 KW capacity plants, the subsidy is ₹60,000 and for 3 KW plant, it is ₹78,000.

As per data provided by APEPDCL, out of 81,980 applications registered till April 30, 2025, a total of 14,312 of them have paid the application fee and reached the installation stage. Out of these, 10,000 installations have been completed.

“The remaining applicants (4,300) are at various stages of installation and grounding. As on April 30, 2025, around 10,000 installations worth 33,555kW have been completed. We are getting good response from the public,” EPDCL CMD I. Pridvitej told The Hindu on Saturday (May 3).

“Except Alluri Sitharama Raju district where we have less than 10 scheme beneficiaries, other districts like Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Srikakulam, Eluru, West Godavari and East Godavari have more than 1,000 installed units as on April 30,” he added.

Meanwhile, a senior EPDCL official said that there is a big gap between the number of registered applications (81,000) and installations as many people are not taking up the project seriously. Many people apply randomly and don’t think much about the installation.