Shreya Mishra, CEO and Co-founder of SolarSquare.Two years ago, the government launched the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, with the aim of providing free electricity to households across the country. The scheme offers households subsidies of up to 40 per cent for installing solar panels on rooftops. According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), over the past two years, more than 2.8 million households have been solarised under the scheme, with subsidies exceeding ₹16,000 crore provided.
India has witnessed a nearly 250 per cent surge in residential solar adoption over the past 24 months, says Shreya Mishra, CEO and Co-founder of SolarSquare, a rooftop solar solution provider. Despite the rapid growth, she points out that rooftop solar penetration remains below 3 per cent among the country’s 260 million electrified homes, highlighting the vast untapped market. In an interview with ET Digital, Mishra talks about the opportunities in India’s residential rooftop solar market, broader industry trends, and more. Edited excerpts:
Economic Times (ET): As PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana completes two years, what progress has the country made in residential rooftop solar adoption?
The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana has fundamentally transformed the scale and pace of residential rooftop solar adoption in India. The initiative has played a pivotal role in this acceleration by reducing upfront cost barriers, strengthening consumer confidence, and speeding up decision-making.
This momentum has also helped players like us. We are the first company to achieve 100 MW of installations under the scheme, with our installations growing 100 per cent year-on-year. We look forward to making solar simple, accessible, and impactful for more families across the country.
ET: What role has digitisation played in extending subsidies and consumer onboarding?
Shreya Mishra: Digitisation has been the backbone of making it easier to do business in India’s residential solar sector. India is the first country in the world to have a “one nation, one portal” system for solar permits, covering the entire country. Most other developed nations, like the US and Germany, still have fragmented, state-by-state systems. So, India’s approach is a global benchmark.
The National Solar Portal has introduced transparency in subsidy processing and standardised the consumer’s journey across states. For homeowners, this has significantly reduced uncertainty. SolarSquare alone has facilitated over ₹200 crore in government subsidies under the scheme. By allowing consumers to track applications, approvals, and installation progress digitally, the portal has strengthened trust in the rooftop solar ecosystem.
Overall, digitisation has transformed what was once a fragmented, paperwork-heavy process into a predictable and seamless journey. As India’s solar revolution continues, we hope the country maintains its leadership in setting global standards for how technology infrastructure can turbocharge public-facing industries.
ET: What amount of savings are consumers making in their electricity bills?
Shreya Mishra:
In the last two years, customers have seen significant savings on their electricity bills. On average, households installing rooftop solar with SolarSquare under the PM Surya Ghar scheme have reduced their monthly bills by up to 90 per cent, depending on consumption patterns and system size. This has translated into substantial cumulative savings, with thousands of families now paying only a fraction of what they used to, while also enjoying the predictability and reliability of solar energy.
ET: Did you see demand growing towards Tier-II and Tier-III cities after the launch of the scheme?
Shreya Mishra:
Yes, and this is one of the most significant developments in the last two years: residential rooftop solar adoption is no longer metro-centric; states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan are seeing strong growth, with cities such as Nagpur, Bhopal, Jabalpur, and Gwalior emerging as key residential solar markets.
Today, we operate across 20 cities, holding over 20 per cent market share in Bengaluru, Chennai, Jabalpur, and Gwalior, and over 10 per cent in Nagpur, Bhopal, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, and Pune. Tier-II and Tier-III markets are increasingly at the heart of India’s residential solar growth story, and they represent a major opportunity for accelerating the country’s clean energy transition.
ET: What were the challenges SolarSquare faced working under this scheme?
Shreya Mishra: Consumer awareness about solar has grown significantly in the country. India is now the world’s fastest-growing residential solar market, with around 200,000 homes going solar each month.
While the economics of solar, being very attractive, are widely understood by consumers, a key adoption challenge remains: the upfront investment required for a rooftop solar system. This is why easy financing and accessible solar loans are crucial for accelerating adoption in India.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Yojana, residential solar loans are classified as priority sector lending, and banks are offering attractive interest rates for residential solar. Yet, the loan process remains cumbersome, slow, and largely offline, which creates friction for homeowners and slows down adoption at the ground level. Today, consumers expect digital and easy loans, like they get for buying an appliance or a car, and we are hopeful that solar loans will become just as simple and seamless.
ET: How can we make the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana more popular?
Shreya Mishra: This is a scheme with a ₹75,000 crore subsidy budget for 10 million homes, and so far, roughly 2.5 million homes have adopted solar. It’s really creating a historic energy transition in the country.
There are a few things we hope will make the scheme more popular. First, the full digitisation of solar permits, which would make it much easier for homeowners to go solar. Second, 100 per cent digitisation of public sector bank loans for this scheme; this would further reduce friction for consumers. And third, we believe that going forward, India will need more flexible power. That means homes should not just have rooftop solar but solar with batteries. Battery adoption will be crucial for the grid’s stability, and we hope that after the 10 million-home milestone, the government introduces a fresh subsidy scheme for hybrid solar systems.
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