RAS question
How many households does PM Surya Ghar target?
Correct answer: (C) 1 crore.
PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana targets rooftop solar installation and free electricity support for one crore households.
Explanation
PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana targets one crore households for rooftop solar installations. The PIB release says the Union Cabinet approved the scheme with an outlay of Rs 75,021 crore for installing rooftop solar and providing up to 300 units of free electricity every month to those households. That makes option C the only figure that matches the official target. The scheme is framed around residential rooftop solar, with households applying through the National Portal and selecting vendors for installation. The target is therefore not a general electricity-consumer count or a village-level coverage number; it is specifically the number of households intended to receive rooftop solar under the scheme.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 50 lakh is only half of the officially stated one crore household target for PM-Surya Ghar.
- (B) 75 lakh does not match the PIB release, which states the target as one crore households, not three-fourths of a crore.
- (D) 2 crore overstates the scheme's household target; the official approval refers to one crore households.
Concept
This tests government schemes under the Indian Economy syllabus, especially flagship welfare and energy-transition schemes. RAS often asks exact targets because they link budgetary announcements, beneficiary coverage and implementation design.