The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has amended the operational guidelines for implementing the utility-led aggregation (ULA) model under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana to release central financial assistance (CFA) in a single tranche.

The CFA will be released after the physical installation, inspection, and commissioning of the rooftop solar installation. The new guidelines do not permit the advance release of CFA.

The payment release mechanism will apply to all proposals under the ULA model, including both utility-owned and consumer-owned models.

MNRE has directed all ULA model implementers and state/union territory entities to follow the new guidelines.

Process of CFA Disbursement

MNRE will assign the funds in advance to the National Program Implementation Agency (NPIA) to facilitate the identification and tracking of payments.

The state/utility/implementing agency will issue a work order or execution agreement to the selected vendor. The consumer’s installation details and the vendor’s bank account details will be uploaded on the national portal by the implementing agency.

After completion of physical verification and commissioning of the rooftop project, the ‘ULA Redeem’ option will be used by the implementing agency to initiate CFA disbursements.

The NPIA will verify the installation reports and vendor bank account details uploaded on the PM Surya Ghar program portal.

After verification by NPIA, the CFA will be disbursed directly to the ULA vendor’s bank account. Subsequently, a notification will be sent to the state/utility/implementing agency, which will provide complete visibility of the CFA amount released to each ULA vendor.

All modifications or updates to vendor bank account details must be routed through NPIA for verification and update of records.

In August 2025, MNRE limited solar projects under the PM Surya Ghar program in ULA/renewable service company (RESCO) mode to rooftop solar power projects. According to the amendment, ground-mounted projects, or any other aggregator models like community solar or off-site installations, can only be included under the ULA/RESCO mode with the explicit permission of MNRE.

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