Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary chaired a review meeting with the state Energy Department at the Sankalp Karyalay of Lok Sevak Avas on Monday, 25 May 2026, issuing a series of directives aimed at accelerating clean, green and self-reliant energy infrastructure across the state.

Posting on X, CM Choudhary outlined five key priorities emerging from the meeting. In Hindi, he wrote: 'स्वच्छ, हरित एवं आत्मनिर्भर ऊर्जा व्यवस्था को सशक्त बनाने के उद्देश्य से कई महत्वपूर्ण निर्देश दिए गए' ['Several important directives were issued with the aim of strengthening a clean, green and self-reliant energy system']. The post was accompanied by four images from the meeting.

Context

The most prominent directive calls for expediting solar plant installations under the Kuteer Jyoti Yojana, targeting 10 lakh consumers in the state. Alongside this, the Chief Minister directed officials to enrol the maximum number of households under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, the central government's flagship rooftop solar scheme launched in 2024 that offers beneficiaries up to 300 units of free electricity per month.

A third directive focused on encouraging Jeevika Didis — women members of self-help groups under the JEEVIKA (Bihar Rural Livelihoods Mission) network — to actively participate in solar plant installations in rural areas. The instruction positions these women as last-mile facilitators for clean energy adoption, extending an existing livelihood programme into the renewable energy space.

Policy Backdrop

The meeting reflects Bihar's effort to align state machinery with India's broader renewable energy ambitions. The central government's PM-KUSUM scheme, introduced in 2019, laid the groundwork for solarisation of agricultural feeders and deployment of solar pumps in the farm sector — a thread that CM Choudhary's latest directives explicitly continue, with a 'special emphasis' placed on expanding solar energy use in agriculture through feeder solarisation.

The fifth directive mandates wide-scale awareness campaigns on the benefits and utility of solar energy, signalling that the administration views public outreach as integral to achieving adoption targets. The JEEVIKA programme, operational since 2007, organises rural women into self-help groups and has historically been deployed for health, finance and livelihood interventions; its proposed role in solar rollout marks a newer application of the network.

Stakeholders and Impact

Rural households, farmers and women's self-help groups are the primary beneficiaries identified in the directives. For farming communities, solarisation of agricultural feeders could reduce dependence on grid power and lower input costs, a significant consideration in an agrarian state like Bihar. For rural women under JEEVIKA, the solar installation mandate could open new income streams as community mobilisers or micro-entrepreneurs.

At the national level, India is pursuing a target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2070. State-level review meetings of this kind are part of the administrative machinery through which central scheme targets are translated into ground-level action, with Bihar — one of India's most populous and agrarian states — representing a significant share of the potential beneficiary base.

What's Next

Progress on solar connections under both the Kuteer Jyoti Yojana and PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana will be a key metric to watch in the coming months. The directives issued at this review meeting are expected to be followed by implementation timelines from the Bihar Energy Department.

Should the state succeed in mobilising JEEVIKA's extensive rural network for solar outreach, it could serve as a replicable model for other states seeking last-mile delivery mechanisms for household clean energy schemes — a development that would carry implications well beyond Bihar's own renewable energy targets.