Sri Vijaya Puram: The momentum to turn Andaman’s rooftops into solar generators received a formal boost this week, as the implementation of the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana was taken up for review during a high-level meeting held at the Secretariat on July 12. Chaired by the Member of Parliament from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the session brought together senior officials from the Electricity Department and the A&N Administration to evaluate the UT’s readiness for the scheme’s launch.
The central government’s flagship rooftop solar initiative, PM Surya Ghar, promises up to 300 units of free electricity per month to 1 crore residential consumers across India. For a remote archipelago like Andaman, the potential impact is significant, both in terms of energy self-sufficiency and reduced dependency on diesel-based power generation.
During the meeting, officials from concerned departments presented current progress and outlined the logistical challenges of rolling out rooftop solar systems in the geographically scattered islands. Discussions also revolved around vendor registration, subsidy disbursal mechanisms, and infrastructure preparedness, including the availability of inverters, meters, and solar panels on the islands.
Andaman already has a few registered vendors under the scheme who are physically present in the region, but scaling up operations to meet demand remains a concern. A sample installation, complete with a single-line diagram, inverter, net metering system, and billing interface, was reviewed to ensure implementation would align with national guidelines.
A key part of the presentation focused on the newly introduced net-metering billing format, which is designed to ensure seamless accounting of energy consumption versus solar energy generated. Officials emphasized that this reform would be critical for beneficiaries to receive timely credit and ensure transparency in billing.
Affordability, often a barrier to clean energy adoption, is being addressed through a two-tier subsidy model. For a 1KW system, beneficiaries in Andaman will receive combined support from both the central and UT governments, bringing down the payback period to under five years in most cases. This is expected to encourage more households to opt in.
Another highlight of the meeting was the introduction of the “Model Solar Village” component under the same scheme. Targeting revenue villages with populations exceeding 2,000, this sub-program will provide ₹1 crore in central financial assistance for infrastructure development. The idea is to promote solar street lighting, water pumping, and home lighting across one selected village per district. The selection will follow a performance-based competition model, where shortlisted villages will be assessed based on total solar capacity installed over a six-month challenge period.
Local bodies such as Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies are also set to benefit. An incentive of ₹1,000 per installation has been provisioned to support their role in community mobilization and handholding. Officials said this decentralized approach will help overcome the behavioural and awareness-related barriers often encountered in new technology adoption.
The Member of Parliament, while engaging with departments, emphasized that implementation of such centrally funded schemes must be seen not just as a compliance mandate but as an opportunity to reposition Andaman as a clean energy front-runner among UTs. He urged departments to intensify outreach, especially in rural and semi-urban clusters, to maximize enrollment under the scheme.
With the monsoon slowing down large-scale installations, the focus now shifts to backend preparations, vendor mapping, billing integration, and training local electricians for maintenance and troubleshooting. The next review meeting is expected to assess how many installations can be completed before the close of 2025, in line with national rollout targets.
As the groundwork takes shape, the Surya Ghar initiative is being seen not just as a renewable energy scheme, but as a model of energy empowerment, where homes are both consumers and producers, and island communities take a decisive step toward energy independence.
