CHENNAI: The installation of domestic rooftop solar plants under the PM Surya Ghar Scheme in Tamil Nadu is facing poor response from consumers with only 70,122 registering for the scheme and just 18,032 applications submitted so far.
The union government has set an ambitious target to cover 25 lakh households in Tamil Nadu between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025. In the last six months, those who have registered for the scheme constitute just 2.8% of the target.
During its announcement, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) stated the PM Surya Ghar scheme will aid in generation of up to 300 units of free power per month in 1 crore households. Under the scheme, a consumer can install a 2KW solar plant, at a cost of Rs 2 lakh. The centre will provide a subsidy of `60,000. For consumers using 300 units per month, their electricity bill will effectively be zero.
There is also a significant gap between registration and actual submission of applications, according to the data from the Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation (TNGEC), the nodal agency for implementing the Rooftop Solar Photovoltaics (RTPVs) scheme.
Of the 18,032 applications submitted, RTPVs have been installed in 13,000 households, while the remaining 5,032 applications are pending in various stages, officials said.
Across the country, too, the scheme has elicited only tepid response with just 1.28 crore registrations and 14.84 lakh applications submitted till September. An official from TNGEC told TNIE, “We have installed RTPVs with a combined capacity of 792.17 MW till September. This is well below our target.”
Discussing the reasons for the scheme’s poor response, the official said, “In major cities like Chennai, Tiruchy, Coimbatore, and Madurai, the growing apartment culture makes it difficult to install the plant for just individual houses.”
Not enough registered vendors in TN
“When the centre introduced the scheme in February this year, it had announced that there was no need for a feasibility report for installations up to 3KW, now we have increased it up to 10KW. But many consumers are still hesitant to adopt solar energy,” the official said.
Another issue is the lack of enough registered vendors in Tamil Nadu. As per the PM Surya Ghar national portal, Tamil Nadu has 682 registered vendors under the scheme. Among the southern states, Karnataka leads with 1,470 vendors, followed by Kerala with 919. Nationally, Gujarat stands top with 5,184 registered vendors.
An official from TNGEC said, “Steps are being taken to install more solar panels. Many vendors are coming forward to register under the scheme. We also encourage young engineers to join TNGEC as registered vendors.”
Meanwhile, experts have called for a survey to understand the reasons behind the poor interest.
BMS (TNEB union) state organising secretary E Raveendran and legal advisor R Muralikrishnan said the survey would help gather details on whether financial issues, procedural delays, or other barriers are preventing consumers. Raveendran also emphasized that the TNGEC should direct its engineers to work diligently to meet the target.
He also suggested creating more awareness among people regarding the scheme.