Union Minister Pralhad Joshi announced that the government is targeting 75 lakh homes under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana by December 2026, representing a significant acceleration from current installation rates. As per Business Standard, rooftop solar installations crossed 3 lakh per month in May 2026, taking cumulative installations beyond 40 lakh. Joshi noted that earlier installations were around 7,000 per month, but the current pace of more than 15,000 installations on some days demonstrates rapid scaling. The minister emphasized that once 1 crore households are reached, adoption will continue on its own without constant government intervention.
India's ambitious target of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 could generate more than 44 lakh full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs, according to a new study by climate think-tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and non-profit environmental organisation Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) India. The study, conducted with technical guidance from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, found that rooftop solar would emerge as the single largest employment generator, accounting for nearly 43% of the total jobs. The comprehensive report, titled 'Driving Energy Transition: Workforce, Skills, and Gender in India's Renewable Energy Sector', was released during the recent MNRE event and provides detailed insights into the employment landscape of India's clean energy transition.
The study reveals significant momentum in clean energy employment, with 6.5 lakh clean energy jobs added between FY23 and FY26. According to the research, rooftop solar accounted for the largest share at 62% of these additions, followed by the PM-KUSUM scheme at 16.3%, biomass power at 12.6%, and ground-mounted solar projects at 6%. The study is based on a primary survey of companies carried out in 2024-25 across solar, wind, bioenergy, and hydropower sectors. The report estimates that around 13 lakh FTE jobs could be created in operations, maintenance and manufacturing roles, with 60% of deployment jobs and up to 90% of manufacturing jobs requiring skilled or semi-skilled workers. Approximately 12.8 lakh (1.28 million) of the total FTE jobs are expected to be in operations and maintenance and manufacturing roles, sustained over the lifetime of each project or manufacturing facility.
Rooftop solar deployment is currently led by five states -- Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala -- which together account for more than 70% of national installed capacity. As per Business Standard, MNRE Joint Secretary J V N Subramanyam indicated that current installations are growing at a 13% compounded monthly growth rate, suggesting the country could reach close to 90 lakh installations by the end of March 2027. However, India still has a long way to go before achieving its target of reaching 1 crore households by March 2027. MNRE Secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi urged major states such as Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal to accelerate their program participation in the coming months.
A study by CEEW released during the MNRE event revealed that 57% of households surveyed were aware of the potential of rooftop solar to generate electricity for homes in both rural and urban areas. However, conversion remains a significant challenge, with the study suggesting that support is needed for interested households to move from curiosity to application, financing, vendor selection and installation. As per Business Standard, 26% of households surveyed that were aware but not interested said they would reconsider adoption if offered easier loan terms, such as concessional interest rates, longer tenures and collateral-free loans. The study estimated that improving awareness could unlock theoretical convertible demand of up to 66 GW, emphasizing the need to convert awareness into confident action through clearer process support and better financing awareness.
