New Delhi, Aug 4 (IANS) The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana -- the world's largest domestic rooftop solar programme -- has crossed the milestone of benefiting more than 50.06 lakh households across the country, the government said on Tuesday. According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the achievement comes just over two years after the launch of the scheme and marks a sharp acceleration compared with the 7.94 lakh rooftop solar installations recorded during the previous decade.The scheme has an outlay of Rs 75,021 crore and is emerging as one of the fastest-growing clean energy initiatives globally.It is now benefiting around one lakh households every six days, the government said.

In addition, the pace of installations has increased more than three-fold over the last nine months, rising from 5,038 installations per day in October 2025 to nearly 16,328 installations per day in July 2026.July 2026 alone witnessed a record 5.06 lakh households benefiting under the scheme, the highest monthly figure since its launch.To support the expansion, the government has released Rs 28,024 crore in subsidies directly to beneficiaries through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism.As a result, nearly 19 lakh households are now receiving zero electricity bills, while more than 12 lakh households earned a combined Rs 421 crore through the sale of surplus power during FY25 and generated an average additional income of around Rs 3,500 annually per household.

Around 1.6 lakh installations have been completed for PMAY, BPL and SC/ST households across four states, with the model approved for rollout in 12 states, according to the government.It further highlighted that the programme has also generated employment and business opportunities across the solar value chain. Additionally, 34,219 vendors have been registered under the scheme, of which 29,469 are currently active and more than 2.32 lakh people have been trained under various capacity-building initiatives.Cumulatively, 14.8 GW of rooftop solar capacity has been commissioned under the scheme so far.

/IANS