On This Day In 2024: PM Modi Launched PM Surya Ghar Scheme To Power India’s Clean Energy Push

On this day in 2024, Prime Minister Modi introduced the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana with a defined objective.

PM Modi aimed to deliver rooftop solar power to millions of households and accelerate India’s transition towards clean energy.

A prominent social media platform, ‘Modi Story’, recalled that PM Modi designed the initiative not merely as a subsidy programme but as a national movement.

PM Modi sought to promote energy self-reliance through technology-led execution.

During the planning phase, PM Modi advised integrating the scheme with PM Gati Shakti. This alignment ensured that rooftop solar deployment would synchronise with a broader digital infrastructure framework and generate wider public value.

Former Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, reflected on the programme’s evolution. He noted that officials initially confined the proposal to rooftop solar expansion.

Prime Minister Modi, however, expanded the scope by insisting on integration with a national technology platform.

Despite criticism at the time, PM Modi maintained his position.

The Prime Minister believed that mass-scale solar adoption would serve long-term national and state interests.

PM Modi positioned the PM Surya Ghar scheme as the world’s largest domestic rooftop solar initiative.

Prime Minister Modi set an ambitious target to supply solar energy to one crore households by March 2027.

Installations were projected to cross 10 lakh by March 2025. The number was expected to reach 20 lakh by October 2025 and 40 lakh by March 2026, before attaining the final milestone.

The Prime Minister launched the scheme on February 13, 2024, to provide free electricity through rooftop solar installations.

The programme offers subsidies of up to 40 per cent, enhancing affordability for households.

Within nine months, authorities completed 6.3 lakh installations. The monthly installation pace reached nearly 70,000, almost ten times higher than the pre-scheme average.

Prime Minister Modi expects the initiative to save approximately Rs 75,000 crore annually in electricity expenditure while reinforcing India’s commitment to sustainable growth and energy innovation.

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