Model Solar Village

Aug. 13, 2024

Recently, the Scheme Guidelines for implementation of ‘Model Solar Village’ under PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana have been notified by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

About Model Solar Village:

  • It aims to create one Model Solar Village per district across India.
  • Goal: To promote solar energy adoption and enable village communities to become self-reliant in meeting their energy needs.
  • Funding: A total financial outlay of 800 crore has been allocated for this component, providing ₹1 crore per selected Model Solar Village.
  • Criteria:
    • In order to be considered a village under the competition mode, a village must be a revenue village with a population size above 5,000 (or 2,000 for special category states).
    • The selection process involves a competitive mode where villages are assessed on their overall distributed renewable energy (RE) capacity installed 6 months after the declaration of the potential candidate by the District Level Committee (DLC).
  • The winning village in each district, with the highest RE capacity, will receive a central financial assistance grant of 1 crore.
  • Implementation: The implementation of this scheme will be done by the State/UT Renewable Energy Development Agency under the supervision of the District Level Committee (DLC).

Key facts about the PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana

  • In this scheme, the central government will provide 300 units of free electricity per month to its beneficiaries by investing worth 75,000 crores.
  • Target:It aims to light up 1 crore households.
  • Under the scheme, Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats shall be incentivised to promote rooftop solar systemsin their jurisdictions.