Tamil Nadu’s rooftop solar subsidy scheme may be extended to households beyond the government’s target of one lakh installations if applications exceed the limit by March, Electricity Minister Nirmal Kumar said at a state-level consultation meeting in Chennai.
The special programme combines a central government subsidy with additional financial support from the Tamil Nadu government, taking the total subsidy available for a household rooftop solar power plant to Rs 1 lakh, according to a report by Dinamalar. The scheme was launched recently to encourage residential solar generation across the state.
The minister said the programme had received 20,000 applications in its first three weeks. After the central government subsidy was received, the Tamil Nadu government had released its additional subsidy to 1,500 beneficiaries, he said.
Tamil Nadu has set a target of installing rooftop solar power plants in one lakh homes by March. Kumar said that even if applications crossed the target, the government would take steps to provide subsidies after obtaining the approval of Chief Minister Vijay.
The announcement was made during a special consultation on rooftop solar power and future green-energy initiatives in Tamil Nadu. The meeting was held at Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai and attended by the minister, Sreedhar, managing director of the Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation, solar-equipment manufacturers and representatives of companies implementing rooftop solar projects.
The subsidy structure places the central government’s support and the state’s additional assistance within a single residential adoption programme. The figures released at the meeting indicate that demand has emerged quickly: the scheme received one-fifth of its stated application target in three weeks, although the report does not specify how many of those applications have been approved, installed or connected to the grid.
The state government has not disclosed in the supplied report the total budget earmarked for applications beyond one lakh homes, the size of the rooftop systems covered by the subsidy, the eligibility conditions or the timeline for releasing the state’s additional assistance. It also remains unclear whether the one-lakh-home target refers to applications, sanctioned systems or completed installations.
For households, the immediate benefit of the scheme is a lower upfront cost for installing rooftop solar. For the state, the scale-up will require coordination between subsidy approvals, equipment suppliers, implementing agencies and electricity-system connections. The government’s next stated step is to seek the chief minister’s approval before extending subsidy support beyond the March target.
