Tripura Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath on Wednesday, 20 May announced that the state government and the Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSCL) will provide rooftop solar systems worth ₹66,000 for just ₹1,000 to households consuming fewer than 50 units of electricity per month. An initial batch of 1.5 lakh families has already been identified under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, making Tripura one of the more aggressive state-level adopters of the central scheme.

What the Scheme Offers

Under the central government's PM Surya Ghar initiative, subsidies are structured by system size: ₹33,000 for a 1 kilowatt system, ₹66,000 for 2 kilowatts, and ₹85,800 for a 3 kilowatt installation. For the lowest-consumption households — those using under 50 units monthly — the state and TSCL are absorbing the residual cost, leaving beneficiaries to pay only ₹1,000 out of pocket for a 2 kW system.

Minister Nath made the announcement while launching a Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic System Handbook at the Geetanjali Government Guest House in Agartala. The handbook, published in both English and Bengali, is designed to guide consumers, vendors, engineers, and bank officials on the operation and maintenance of rooftop solar installations.

Current Progress and New Targets

The scheme has already gathered momentum in the state: approximately 17,000 people have registered under PM Surya Ghar, and close to 3,500 families have completed rooftop solar installations. These installations are currently generating 11 megawatts (MW) of power collectively.

With the expanded push, Tripura is targeting an additional 150 MW of rooftop solar capacity. According to Nath, there are nearly 3 lakh families in the state consuming fewer than 50 units per month; the first phase will cover half of them. Field work is expected to begin as early as next month, with beneficiaries identified through official electricity consumption records.

ADB Partnership and Capacity Building

The expansion is being undertaken in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which is co-funding the broader rollout alongside TSCL and the state government. Separately, Germany-based development organisation GIZ has been conducting training programmes for officials, engineers, and vendors on the maintenance and repair of rooftop solar systems — a capacity-building effort that the newly launched handbooks are intended to supplement.

'Earlier, consumers had to pay electricity bills, but now many of them are earning money by supplying power through rooftop solar systems,' Nath said, referring to the net-metering provisions that allow households to sell surplus electricity back to the grid.

Broader Significance

This comes amid a national push to install rooftop solar in 1 crore households under PM Surya Ghar, which was launched by the Centre earlier this year with a substantial outlay. Tripura's low per-capita consumption profile — reflected in its large share of sub-50-unit households — makes it a natural candidate for high penetration, though execution at scale across dispersed rural settlements remains a challenge. Notably, this is one of the first state-level programmes to peg beneficiary contribution as low as ₹1,000, potentially serving as a replicable model for other low-income states.