Power subsidies are slowing household solar adoption. A solution: More subsidies

📌 Summary:

• Solar now ~30% of India's total installed electricity capacity; 50+ GW added in the last two years; in 2025 India added more solar than any country except China
• Two flagship decentralised schemes — PM Suryaghar (rooftop) and PM-KUSUM (agri solar pumps) — with a combined ~Rs 95,000 crore budget, but performing well below potential
• ~13 GW of decentralised solar so far against a 40 GW target for this fiscal; 10.9 lakh solar pumps installed (14 lakh target)
• Uneven spread: Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP, Kerala, Rajasthan are the top 5, holding ~70% of ~33 lakh rooftop installs; Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand lag
• Core reason: free/heavily subsidised power — when electricity is already free, consumers have no incentive to pay upfront for solar (e.g., Punjab: 300 free units for homes + free power for all agri tubewells; Rs 20,000 crore+ subsidy bill, low solar uptake)
• Parliament's Estimates Committee flagged this; MNRE admitted near-zero effective tariffs make rooftop solar financially unattractive; upfront cost runs to a few lakh rupees

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 Environment/Energy — renewable transition, distortions from power subsidies, decentralised solar, Centre-state energy policy

📝 Prelims Facts:

• PM Suryaghar = rooftop solar scheme; PM-KUSUM (2019) = agri solar pumps/plants
• Solar ~30% of India's installed electricity capacity
• Ministry: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)
• Decentralised solar target: 40 GW (this fiscal)

🔑 Key Term: PM-KUSUM — scheme for off-grid solar water pumps and grid-connected solar plants for farmers (launched 2019)