Union Consumer Affairs and New and Renewable Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi met with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday, 10 July 2026, to review the state's progress under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana and urged faster execution of pending rooftop solar targets.

Context

Joshi described the meeting as productive and highlighted that Assam has emerged as the best-performing state in the North East for household rooftop solar installations under PM Surya Ghar, and now ranks among the leading performers nationally. He credited the progress to what he called the 'visionary leadership' of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the administrative focus of CM Sarma.

The minister urged the state government to expedite implementation of the 1.8 lakh rooftop solar installations already awarded under the Urban Local Authority (ULA)-led model, signalling that sanctions are in place but on-ground execution needs to accelerate.

Policy Backdrop

PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana was launched in February 2024 with a national target of one crore rooftop solar installations, offering central financial assistance covering up to 60 per cent of system cost. For Assam and other North Eastern states, the central government has structured a higher subsidy of up to ₹85,000 per household, reflecting the special category treatment these states receive under renewable energy financing norms.

This enhanced support is part of India's broader push to achieve 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030, with distributed rooftop solar seen as critical to reaching underserved and geographically challenging regions.

Stakeholders and Impact

The meeting also covered food security, with Joshi and Sarma discussing plans to strengthen storage capacity in Assam through convergence of schemes run by the Ministry of Cooperation and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The objective is to support effective delivery of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), which provides free food grains to eligible households and has been extended through 2028.

Improved storage infrastructure would reduce grain wastage and leakages in welfare delivery, directly benefiting Assam's food-insecure population. The convergence model, if formalised, could serve as a template for other North Eastern states facing similar logistical constraints.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to state-level progress reports on the 1.8 lakh sanctioned solar installations and any formal agreements or project approvals for integrated storage facilities under the two ministries. Assam's ability to translate its North East leadership position into faster ground-level execution will be a key indicator of how effectively enhanced central subsidies translate into energy access for ordinary households.

For the broader PM Surya Ghar programme, Assam's trajectory in the coming months will be closely watched as a test case for whether higher subsidies alone are sufficient to drive adoption in states where installation infrastructure and consumer awareness remain works in progress.