Solar Subsidy Karnataka 2026: Homes, RWAs, Farmers, Business

The short answer: who gets what

Four groups of people put up solar in Karnataka, and each one falls under a different rule. Mixing them up is the most common mistake we see at the counter. A shop owner is told about the ₹78,000 subsidy and plans around it, only to find it is for domestic connections only.

Who you are	Scheme	Capital subsidy	Where to apply
House owner (domestic connection)	PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana	₹30,000/kW for the first 2 kW, ₹18,000 for the 3rd kW, maximum ₹78,000	pmsuryaghar.gov.in
Apartment association / group housing society (common areas)	PM Surya Ghar, GHS/RWA category	₹18,000/kW, up to 500 kW, at 3 kW per house	pmsuryaghar.gov.in
Farmer with a pump	PM-KUSUM (Components A, B, C)	Component B in Karnataka: 30% central + 50% state; farmer pays 20%	KREDL (Component B), ESCOM (Component C)
Shop, office, hotel, factory	No capital subsidy	None. Benefits come from net metering, tax depreciation and lower GST	Your ESCOM's DSPV portal

₹78,000maximum central subsidy for one home

₹18,000/kWfor RWA / GHS common facilities

80%PM-KUSUM B support in Karnataka (30% + 50%)

₹0capital subsidy for commercial and industrial

Homes: PM Surya Ghar, and no state top-up

PM Surya Ghar is a central scheme for residential consumers with a domestic connection. The subsidy is called Central Financial Assistance (CFA) and is fixed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE):

1 kW: ₹30,000
2 kW: ₹60,000
3 kW or more: ₹78,000 (the cap does not rise for 4, 5 or 10 kW)

The conditions that matter in practice: the panels must use made-in-India (DCR) cells, the system must be installed by a vendor registered on the national portal for your ESCOM, and the application must be made on the portal before installation. A system put up first and applied for later does not qualify.

Does Karnataka add its own subsidy on top? We could not find any current state top-up for homes. Several installer websites state plainly that Karnataka gives no separate state subsidy, and BESCOM's own procedure document says that at present subsidy is available only to domestic consumers under PM Surya Ghar. A few vendor sites mention a ₹20,000 state top-up in some ESCOM areas, but we found no government order to back it. Treat any such promise with suspicion unless it is in writing from the ESCOM.

What Karnataka does give is on the bill side. The 2025 tariff order allows LT domestic consumers (sanctioned load up to 10 kW) with rooftop solar a rebate of ₹25 per kW of installed solar capacity on the fixed charge. For a 3 kW system that is ₹75 a month. Small, but it is there. Under PM Surya Ghar the ESCOM's application and facilitation fees are also waived.

For the full portal-to-subsidy process, read our PM Surya Ghar step-by-step guide. For what a system really costs after subsidy, see rooftop solar cost in Karnataka 2026.

How the subsidy money actually reaches you

The subsidy is not a discount on the vendor's bill. You pay the full price (or take a loan), and the CFA is credited to your bank account after the ESCOM has inspected the plant. Vendors who "deduct the subsidy" upfront are taking a risk on your behalf, and if the claim fails you may be asked to pay the difference.

Where the PM Surya Ghar money moves

1You pay the vendor the full system cost
From savings or a PM Surya Ghar bank loan.
2Vendor uploads installation details on the national portal
These are auto-fetched into the ESCOM's DSPV portal.
3ESCOM fixes the smart bidirectional meter and synchronises the plant
4ESCOM officer completes inspection approval on the MNRE portal
?Is the application complete and the bank account correct?
Yes Subsidy releasedNo Returned for correction; the clock restarts
✓CFA credited to the bank account you entered

Most delays we see come from three things: the bank account on the portal is not in the consumer's name, the name on the electricity bill is not the owner's (fix it first with an electricity name transfer), or the vendor uploads the wrong module serial numbers.

Loans: what PM Surya Ghar offers

The scheme was designed with collateral-free bank loans for home systems up to 3 kW, with the interest rate linked to the RBI repo rate (repo plus 0.5% was the stated ceiling when the scheme launched, about 7% at the time). Public-sector banks run these loans, and applications can also be made through the Jan Samarth portal.

As reported in September 2026, major public-sector banks were quoting about 5.75% a year for loans up to ₹2 lakh, collateral-free, with tenures up to 10 years. Rates are floating and move with the repo rate.
Above ₹2 lakh (bigger systems), rates were reported in the 7.25%–9.5% range depending on the bank and your credit score.
Expect a margin (your own contribution) of around 10% for smaller loans.

These figures come from loan comparison sites, not from a single official circular, so confirm the rate and processing fee with your own bank branch before signing.

Apartments and housing societies

Group Housing Societies (GHS) and Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) get ₹18,000 per kW for solar that serves common facilities such as lifts, pumps, corridor lights and EV charging. The limit is 500 kW, worked out at 3 kW per house, and that limit includes any rooftop plants put up by individual residents in the same society.

This is a big change in 2026: KERC's new regulations allow virtual net metering for apartments, so one plant on the roof can be shared across the flats' own meters. We cover the approvals, roof rights and sizing in solar for apartments and housing societies in Karnataka.

Farmers: PM-KUSUM, not PM Surya Ghar

An irrigation pump set is not a domestic connection, so PM Surya Ghar does not apply. Farmers come under PM-KUSUM:

Component A: small solar plants (500 kW to 2 MW) on a farmer's land, selling power to the ESCOM.
Component B: standalone solar pumps for farms without a grid connection. Karnataka's funding pattern is 30% central, 50% state, 20% farmer (state share raised to 50% by a government order of 7 October 2023).
Component C: solarising grid-connected pumps, mostly done in Karnataka at feeder level, so farmers get daytime supply without putting anything on the farm.

The scheme period and new application windows are changing in 2026, so read our full PM-KUSUM solar pump guide for Karnataka before paying anyone. Also see farmers' IP set electricity guide.

Mixed cases: house above a shop, farmhouses and rented portions

Real buildings rarely fit one row of the table. The rule that settles most cases is simple: the subsidy follows the tariff category of the connection the solar is attached to, not the owner or the building.

House upstairs, shop downstairs. The house's domestic connection can take a PM Surya Ghar system. The shop on its commercial connection gets no capital subsidy, though it can still use net metering. If both share one roof, decide in advance how the terrace is split and which meter each plant connects to.
Home office or clinic in the house. If the use falls within the small activities allowed on the domestic tariff and the bill is still domestic, the connection stays eligible. If the ESCOM has moved it to a commercial category, it does not.
Several portions with their own meters. Each domestic meter is a separate consumer account, but roof space is shared and the owner usually holds the accounts. Ask on the portal or at the subdivision how many applications your building can make before promising tenants anything. Our guide to separate meters for rented portions explains how portions are metered.
Farmhouse. A farmhouse with its own domestic connection is a home for this purpose. The pump set on the same land is an IP set and comes under PM-KUSUM. Do not connect panels meant for one to the other. See power for a farmhouse on agricultural land.
Second home or holiday home. A domestic connection is still domestic, so the subsidy route is open, but these homes are often empty and use little power. Exported units earn only the low subsidised tariff, so check the payback first.

When in doubt, look at the tariff category printed on the bill. That one line answers more subsidy questions than any vendor will.

Shops, offices and factories: no subsidy, but better rules

Commercial and industrial consumers get no capital subsidy from the Centre or the state for rooftop solar. The economics still work for many businesses because they pay a higher tariff than homes. What helps them in 2026:

Net metering for all categories. Under the KERC (Grid Interactive Distributed Solar PV Plants) Regulations, 2026, notified in the gazette on 24 August 2026, net metering is open to all consumer categories, up to the sanctioned load or 1,000 kW, whichever is lower. Earlier, non-domestic consumers were largely limited to gross metering. See net metering vs gross metering in Karnataka.
GST cut. GST on solar equipment was reduced from 12% to 5% from 22 September 2025 (KERC's tariff order applies 5% to 70% of an EPC contract and 18% to the 30% service portion).
Accelerated depreciation. Businesses have been able to claim higher depreciation on solar plant under income tax rules (40% on written-down value is widely quoted). Tax rules change, so check with your chartered accountant before counting on it.
DCR or non-DCR panels. Businesses can use either, but KERC pays a higher surplus tariff for DCR panels (₹3.11 vs ₹2.34 per unit from 25 August 2026). Also note MNRE's rule that net-metering projects commissioned after 31 December 2026 must use cells from the approved ALMM List-II.

Check the official source

Solar rules in Karnataka changed in August 2026 and tariffs are revised every control period. This article explains how things work in practice. Before you sign or pay, confirm the current rule on pmsuryaghar.gov.in, your ESCOM's DSPV / SRTPV portal, the KERC website, or your subdivision office. The ESCOM helpline is 1912.

Questions

Does Karnataka give any extra solar subsidy on top of PM Surya Ghar?

As of October 2026 we could not find any current state top-up for homes. The central PM Surya Ghar subsidy (up to ₹78,000) is the main support. Karnataka does give LT domestic solar users a fixed-charge rebate of ₹25 per kW of installed capacity.

Is there a solar subsidy for shops and factories in Karnataka?

No capital subsidy. Commercial and industrial consumers benefit from net metering (now allowed for all categories up to 1,000 kW), the GST cut on solar equipment to 5%, and depreciation benefits under income tax rules.

How much subsidy does an apartment association get?

Under PM Surya Ghar, a group housing society or RWA gets ₹18,000 per kW for common-facility solar, up to 500 kW, calculated at 3 kW per house and including any systems installed by individual residents.

Is the PM Surya Ghar subsidy deducted from the vendor's price?

No. You pay the full price, and the subsidy is credited to your bank account after the ESCOM inspects and commissions the plant and approves it on the national portal.

What subsidy do farmers get for solar pumps in Karnataka?

Under PM-KUSUM Component B, Karnataka's funding pattern is 30% from the Centre and 50% from the state, so the farmer pays 20% of the benchmark cost.

What is the interest rate on a PM Surya Ghar loan?

Rates are linked to the RBI repo rate. In September 2026 public-sector banks were reported to be charging about 5.75% for collateral-free loans up to ₹2 lakh. Confirm with your bank.

Can I get the PM Surya Ghar subsidy for a house with a shop on the ground floor?

The domestic connection of the house can. The shop's commercial connection gets no capital subsidy, though it can use net metering. Decide how the terrace is shared and which meter each plant connects to.

Sources

Rules and figures in this article were checked against these sources on 30 Sep 2026. Schemes and tariffs change, so confirm with the official office before you act.

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Written by the Basavalalith Electricals engineering teamLicensed electrical contractors working on ESCOM, KPTCL and CEIG projects across Karnataka, from Bengaluru and Mysuru to Mangaluru, Hubballi and Kalaburagi.

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Solar subsidy in Karnataka 2026: every scheme compared for homes, societies, farmers and shops