Odisha’s Deputy Chief Minister, Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, told the State Assembly on Wednesday that rooftop solar plants now stand on 46,793 buildings across the state. All this is happening under the “PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana,” a central push to get more households running on free, clean energy.
Arun Sahoo from the BJD asked for details, and Singh Deo, who also handles the state’s energy work, didn’t hold back mentioning there is obvious enthusiasm among people for this scheme. The government has already got over 2 lakh applications, with nearly 47,000 solar installations finished and subsidies sent out to 35,966 people.
There’s been some confusion with numbers floating around. Some reports mentioned 56,793 buildings, but the Deputy Chief Minister set things straight. That higher figure includes projects still in progress and a handful of government buildings. The number for completed residential rooftops is 46,793. Besides that, OREDA has set up solar units on 28 government offices in Bhubaneswar, adding another 1,850 KW to the state’s energy capacity.
One big reason for this surge in solar? The “Double Engine” subsidy approach. The central government offers ₹78,000 per installation, and the state pitches in another ₹60,000 for systems up to 3 KW, making solar power much more accessible, especially for middle-class and rural families.
Odisha also rolled out the Utility-Led Aggregation (ULA) model, and that’s made life easier for consumers. Instead of a big upfront bill, people can pay as little as ₹5,000 at the start in some pilot projects, with the government and power companies taking care of the tricky bits.
The state set aside ₹1,800 crore for this scheme, covering expenses until 2026-27. Already, more than 7,000 households in Western Odisha say they’re not getting electricity bills anymore. Odisha is making a big push to stay ahead in renewables, aiming to light up 3 lakh homes with solar power by the end of the next financial year.