Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh on Tuesday, 21 July 2026, welcomed the World Bank's support for the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, calling it a signal that global confidence in India's clean energy transition is steadily growing.

Context

Posting on X, Giriraj Singh wrote — 'वर्ल्ड बैंक द्वारा प्रधानमंत्री सूर्य घर: मुफ्त बिजली योजना को मिला समर्थन इस बात का संकेत है कि भारत की स्वच्छ ऊर्जा की दिशा में उठाए गए कदमों पर दुनिया का भरोसा लगातार बढ़ रहा है' — 'The World Bank's support for the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana is a signal that the world's trust in India's steps towards clean energy is continuously growing.' The senior BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP from Begusarai, Bihar, framed the multilateral endorsement as international validation of the government's solar ambitions.

The minister further stated the scheme will play a 'crucial role' in delivering solar energy to crores of homes, generating new employment opportunities for lakhs of people, and strengthening the country's position in the energy sector.

Policy Backdrop

The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana was launched in February 2024 with central financial assistance channelled through a state implementation framework. The scheme targets rooftop solar installations for one crore households, providing up to 300 units of free electricity per month to eligible beneficiaries.

The programme sits within India's broader renewable energy architecture, which includes a target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 and a net-zero emissions goal by 2070. The World Bank has historically been a significant financier of India's climate and infrastructure programmes, and its engagement with this scheme reflects continued multilateral appetite for distributed solar generation projects.

The scheme is also aligned with Viksit Bharat 2047, the government's official development roadmap to position India as a developed economy by the centenary of independence.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are residential households, particularly in states where grid reliability and electricity costs remain a challenge. Rooftop solar installations under the scheme are expected to reduce monthly electricity bills for crores of families while simultaneously stimulating demand in the domestic solar manufacturing and installation sector.

The rooftop solar industry stands to gain from the scale of rollout, with installation, maintenance, and component supply creating what the minister described as 'new employment opportunities for lakhs of people.' The World Bank's involvement is expected to bring not only financing but also technical assistance and implementation oversight to accelerate state-level progress.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to state-level installation progress reports and the precise terms of any supplementary financing agreements formalised with multilateral development banks in the current fiscal year. The pace of household onboarding and grid connectivity will be key indicators of whether the scheme's welfare and employment objectives are being met on the ground. Sustained international financial backing, if formalised, could accelerate India's distributed solar capacity well ahead of its 2030 targets.