PM Surya Ghar subsidy 2026: slab by slab, state by state

Every customer asks two things. Before signing: "kitni subsidy milegi?" Three months later: "subsidy aayi?" This post answers both from the scheme guidelines themselves, not from a brochure. Where a number has not been confirmed from a government document, we say so right next to it.

The short answer

Under PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, a household gets ₹30,000 per kW for the first 2 kW and ₹18,000 for the third kW. The central subsidy stops at ₹78,000, whatever the system size. These figures are in the MNRE guidelines for the scheme, clause 5(h), effective from 13 February 2024.

The guidelines call it Central Financial Assistance, or CFA. We say "subsidy" below because that is the word customers use.

What the scheme is, in one paragraph

The Government of India approved PM Surya Ghar on 29 February 2024 with an outlay of ₹75,021 crore, of which ₹65,700 crore is subsidy to households. The scheme runs till 31 March 2027. A household applies only through the national portal, using the consumer number on its electricity bill. It picks a vendor registered on the portal and gets the subsidy after the DISCOM inspects the installed system. Housing societies and RWAs have their own slab, covered further down.

Central subsidy, slab by slab

The slab is per kW of solar module capacity, and part of a kW counts pro rata. MNRE's own examples in clause 5(h) cover 1.5 kW and 2.5 kW, so nobody needs to guess:

• 1 kW: ₹30,000
• 1.5 kW: ₹45,000 (₹30,000 × 1.5)
• 2 kW: ₹60,000
• 2.5 kW: ₹69,000 (₹30,000 × 2 + ₹18,000 × 0.5)
• 3 kW: ₹78,000
• 4 kW, 6 kW or 10 kW: still ₹78,000

Special-category states and UTs get ₹33,000 and ₹19,800 per kW, capped at ₹85,800. The guidelines list them: Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Ladakh, the North East including Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep.

Above 3 kW, and the inverter question

A 5 kW system gets the same ₹78,000 as a 3 kW system. Clause 5(e) is explicit: no additional subsidy beyond 3 kWp for a household. The extra kW can still make sense for a big bill, but the customer pays for it in full.

Two more rules from clause 5 settle common arguments at the site survey:

• The subsidy is counted on the rated DC capacity of the modules, not the inverter (clause 5(k)). A 3.3 kW array on a 3 kW inverter is a 3.3 kW system for subsidy, which still means ₹78,000.
• Batteries, trackers or hybrid add-ons are allowed, but the subsidy is still counted only on module capacity (clause 5(l)).

The four rules that decide "subsidy aayi ya nahi"

Most stuck subsidies trace back to one of these, all from the MNRE guidelines:

1. DCR modules only. Modules must be made in India from Indian-made cells. Clause 5(m) says non-DCR modules used "in any form" make the installation ineligible. One wrong panel in the array is enough.
2. Registered vendor only. The customer must choose a vendor registered on the national portal (clause 7(a)).
3. Once per installation. A system gets subsidy only once, and a system shifted to a new location gets none (clause 5(o)).
4. Existing solar counts. If the house already took subsidy for, say, 1 kW, only the balance up to 3 kW is eligible (clause 5(n)). MNRE's example: a 1 kW home that expands to 4 kW can claim for 2 more kW, which is ₹48,000.

State top-ups: where they exist

The guidelines let states add their own subsidy on top, routed through the national portal (clause 5(i)). This is where most confusion lives, because many figures online are old, conditional, or trace back to no government document. Here is what we could and could not confirm as of 27 September 2026.

Confirmed: states that add money

• Delhi. The Delhi Solar Portal gives residential consumers the lower of the cost discovered through DISCOM bidding minus the central subsidy, or ₹26,000 per kW, for systems up to 3 kW.
• Uttar Pradesh. ₹15,000 per kW, up to ₹30,000 per consumer, in addition to the central subsidy (UP Solar Energy Policy 2022, clause 7.3). UPNEDA pays it after commissioning with net metering and submission of documents.
• Rajasthan, for eligible homes only. ₹17,000 and a free smart meter, but only for consumers eligible under the state's 150-unit free-electricity scheme who install a 1.1 kW system through a PM Surya Ghar vendor (DISCOM scheme page). It is not a top-up for every Rajasthan home.

Confirmed: no general top-up

• Gujarat. No state top-up on a PM Surya Ghar system. The state's SURYA Gujarat orders say its subsidy was "either of the state subsidy or MNRE subsidy, but not both", and the 2022 amendment ran the scheme "up to Financial Year 2024-25" (Gujarat Energy and Petrochemicals Department). The ₹10,000 per kW, capped at ₹20,000, still quoted online comes from a 2016 order that the 2019 order replaced.
• Haryana. General consumers get interest-free financial assistance of up to ₹19,500 per kW, recovered through electricity bills. That is a loan, not a grant (UHBVN circular U-10/2026). Grants go to Antyodaya families only (DHBVN circular D-20/2024).

Reported, unconfirmed

• Bihar. ₹10,000 per kW, capped at ₹20,000, approved by the state Cabinet on 12 August 2026, according to a trade-press report. We found no Bihar government notification.

Announced or not found

• Tamil Nadu. The state's official rooftop solar portal now lists a top-up of ₹5,000 for 1 kW, ₹10,000 for 2 kW and ₹22,000 for 3 kW and above, paid by TEDA after the central subsidy. The same portal still shows the Government Order as pending and labels the amounts "proposed", so do not promise it to a customer yet.
• Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and others. We found no general state top-up document. That means "not found", not a confirmed "no".

Our subsidy calculator shows these flags next to every figure, so a customer never sees an unconfirmed number presented as fact.

Housing societies and RWAs

A group housing society or RWA gets ₹18,000 per kWp for a system serving common facilities, including EV charging. The cap is 500 kWp at 3 kWp per house, and it includes rooftop systems that residents installed on their own (clause 5(e)). The connection must serve common areas only, never supply to the flats (clause 5(f)).

MNRE's worked examples make the cap clear. A 100 kW system for 20 households qualifies on 60 kW (20 × 3), which is ₹10,80,000. The same 100 kW for 50 households qualifies on the full 100 kW, which is ₹18,00,000.

When the money reaches the account

The subsidy moves through an e-token on the customer's portal profile (clause 6(p)). In order:

1. The vendor uploads the signed agreement with the total cost including taxes, and the customer approves it from their own portal login; until then the portal will not accept the installation (portal notice, 23 September 2026). The vendor then installs, and the customer, with the vendor's help, uploads system details and geo-tagged photos (clause 6(j)).
2. The DISCOM inspects, completes the net-meter agreement and approves on the portal (clause 6(k)). In Gujarat and several other states the agreement is now part of the online application, not a separate signed form.
3. The customer submits bank details with a cancelled cheque or passbook scan (clause 6(s)).
4. The e-token activates for the eligible amount, and the customer redeems it.
5. The subsidy is processed within 15 days of DISCOM approval (clause 6(t)).

If the customer took a solar loan, the subsidy goes to the loan account first. Only the excess reaches the savings account (clause 6(s)).

Worked example: 3 kW in Gujarat

A family in Ahmedabad installs 3 kW of DCR modules through a registered vendor.

• Central subsidy: ₹30,000 × 2 + ₹18,000 × 1 = ₹78,000. Confirmed.
• Gujarat top-up: none. The state scheme ended with FY 2024-25, and its own orders paid either the state subsidy or the MNRE subsidy, not both.
• Total subsidy: ₹78,000.

The same 3 kW in Lucknow gets ₹78,000 from the centre plus ₹30,000 from the state (₹15,000 × 3, capped at ₹30,000), which is ₹1,08,000 in all.

For scale, MNRE's benchmark cost for 3 kW in a general-category state is ₹1,45,000 (₹50,000 × 2 + ₹45,000), from clause 5(g). That is the reference cost the subsidy percentages are set against, not a market quote. The 3 kW cost post builds a full price from it.

Our advice to installers in Gujarat: stop quoting a ₹20,000 state top-up, because a customer promised ₹98,000 who receives ₹78,000 remembers the ₹20,000, not the ₹78,000.

If the subsidy is stuck

Raise a grievance on the national portal, the portal app or the national call centre. Each grievance gets a tracking ID, and the guidelines commit to resolving it within 30 days (clause 11). Before you raise it, check the four rules above. Wrong bank details can be corrected. A DCR problem cannot, which is why modules get checked at the site survey, not at inspection.