Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Sunday, June 14, 2026, launched a landmark energy initiative in the state, marking the commencement of rooftop solar installations for 2.5 lakh Kutir Jyoti consumers at a cost of Rs 1,512 crore under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. The event also saw the inauguration and dedication of additional energy-sector projects worth Rs 1,278 crore, bringing the combined outlay to Rs 2,790 crore.

Context

The Chief Minister announced the programme live, describing it as the 'कार्यारंभ' (commencement) of solar plant installation on the rooftops of households belonging to Kutir Jyoti beneficiaries — a category covering below-poverty-line rural families who were historically provided single-point light connections under a scheme dating to 1988-89. The event simultaneously covered inauguration, dedication to the public, and fresh commencement of multiple energy-sector schemes totalling Rs 1,278 crore.

The post was shared as a live broadcast link, indicating the event was streamed publicly as it unfolded, underlining the government's intent to project transparency around the rollout.

Policy Backdrop

The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana was launched by the Union government in February 2024 with central financial assistance to install rooftop solar systems on one crore households across India, offering up to 300 units of free electricity per month per beneficiary. Bihar, with its large rural household base, is among the states converging central funds with state budgets to achieve last-mile coverage.

The Kutir Jyoti segment is particularly significant: these are households that were electrified under earlier programmes but remain low-consumption consumers, often dependent on subsidised supply. Bringing rooftop solar to this segment is expected to reduce the subsidy burden on Bihar's distribution companies (discoms) while also cutting transmission losses inherent in long rural feeder lines.

The initiative sits within India's broader commitment to achieve 500 GW of non-fossil fuel electricity capacity by 2030 under the National Solar Mission, with decentralised rooftop solar positioned as a key pillar of that target.

Stakeholders and Impact

The most direct beneficiaries are 2.5 lakh Kutir Jyoti households in Bihar who will receive rooftop solar installations, potentially eliminating or drastically reducing their monthly electricity bills. For many of these families — concentrated in rural and semi-urban pockets — reliable daytime power can also support livelihood activities such as small-scale processing and irrigation pump operation.

Bihar's discoms stand to gain from reduced peak-hour demand on the grid and a lower per-unit subsidy payout over time. The additional Rs 1,278 crore worth of energy-sector projects inaugurated alongside the solar drive suggests a broader grid-strengthening and distribution-improvement push running in parallel, which is essential for absorbing decentralised generation effectively.

What's Next

The scale of the programme — 2.5 lakh installations at Rs 1,512 crore — means execution will hinge on the pace of vendor empanelment, rooftop assessments, and net-metering tie-ups with discoms. State-level progress reports on installations under PM Surya Ghar and any additional central funding allocations in the next Union Budget will be closely watched by energy-sector observers.

Bihar's move could also serve as a template for other states with large Kutir Jyoti or similarly classified low-income consumer bases, signalling that the PM Surya Ghar framework can be adapted for BPL-targeted rooftop solar at scale.