What the scheme pays
PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana gives residential electricity consumers a fixed central financial assistance amount based on installed capacity, not on invoice value. The slabs are Rs 30,000 for 1 kW, Rs 60,000 for 2 kW and Rs 78,000 for 3 kW and above, and the Rs 78,000 figure is a hard cap — a 5 kW or 10 kW home system receives the same amount as a 3 kW one.
For most Tamil Nadu households the economics point at 3 kW. It costs roughly Rs 1,90,000 to Rs 2,30,000 installed, earns the maximum subsidy, generates about 360 to 400 units a month and removes the most expensive slabs of a domestic TANGEDCO bill.
Eligibility and the name-on-the-bill trap
You need an Indian residential connection with TANGEDCO, ownership or exclusive rights over the roof, an Aadhaar, and a bank account for direct benefit transfer. The single most common reason Tamil Nadu applications get returned is a mismatch between the portal applicant and the name on the electricity service connection. If the connection is still in a parent's name, either file in that name or complete a name transfer at the section office first.
- Residential TANGEDCO service connection
- Roof owned or exclusively assigned to you
- ALMM-listed modules and a registered vendor
- No prior central subsidy on the same connection
The application sequence that works
Register on the national portal with your DISCOM and service number, submit the feasibility application with a recent bill, get approval (usually 2 to 5 business days), install through a registered vendor, upload the installation record, then let TANGEDCO fix the bidirectional meter and complete inspection. Net metering commonly finishes in 2 to 10 days. Only after commissioning do you submit bank details — the subsidy is then transferred directly to your account.
The subsidy is never paid to the installer. Any vendor who asks you to sign it over to them is doing something the scheme does not permit.
What it costs you out of pocket
Customers typically start with a Rs 19,999 down payment and finance the balance through collateral-free PM Surya Ghar loans, then receive the subsidy in their account after commissioning. Because generation begins the day the system is commissioned, the monthly bill saving usually starts before the subsidy lands.
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