Talk is Cheap: Delhi's Discoms Fall Short on Solar Ambitions

Delhi's distribution companies have earned plaudits for embracing cutting-edge energy solutions. From pioneering peer-to-peer solar trading pilots to rolling out innovative blockchain platforms, or even the first grid connected BESS installation, the capital's discoms project an image of being at the forefront of India's renewable energy transition. Yet behind this veneer of innovation lies a troubling reality: when it comes to actual rooftop solar deployment, particularly under the flagship PM Suryaghar scheme, Delhi's performance has been disappointingly underwhelming.

The disconnect between Delhi's progressive announcements and its execution on the ground exemplifies a familiar pattern in India's renewable energy landscape—where talk remains cheap, but actions speak volumes.

The P2P Pilot: Innovation Without Foundation

In February 2026, Delhi's discoms—Tata Power DDL and the BSES companies—joined a groundbreaking peer-to-peer electricity trading pilot under the India Energy Stack. The initiative allows consumers with rooftop solar installations to trade surplus power directly with other users through a mobile application, with transactions reflected in monthly bills. Starting with around 1,000 consumers per discom area, the pilot represents a sophisticated evolution in distributed energy management.

On paper, this is precisely the kind of forward-thinking initiative that should position Delhi as a leader in India's solar revolution. The blockchain-enabled platform developed with Power Ledger promises to create local energy markets, reduce transmission losses, and empower prosumers. It's the sort of innovation that generates headlines and conference presentations.

Yet there's a fundamental problem with this pilot: you cannot trade what you haven't installed. P2P trading is meaningless without a robust base of rooftop solar systems to generate the surplus power being traded. And here, Delhi's discoms face an uncomfortable truth—they have failed to build that foundation.

The PM Suryaghar Reality Check

The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, launched in February 2024, represents India's most ambitious push for residential rooftop solar. With an outlay of Rs 75,021 crore, the scheme aims to install solar panels on one crore households by FY 2026-27. 

As of December 2025, over 20.85 lakh rooftop solar systems have been installed nationwide under the scheme. Gujarat leads with an impressive 5.15 lakh installations, followed by Maharashtra with 3.92 lakh and Uttar Pradesh with 3.26 lakh. These states demonstrate what committed implementation can achieve.

Where does Delhi stand? The numbers are conspicuously absent from most national rankings of top-performing states. While the city's discoms tout higher average capacity per household—5.1 kW compared to the national average—this metric obscures the more critical question: how many households have actually been covered?

Recent reports indicate that across all three Delhi discoms, approximately 17,000 rooftop solar installations have been completed, with BSES accounting for over 11,100 systems (228 MW) and Tata Power DDL approximately 6,300 installations (117 MW). In the context of PM Suryaghar specifically, this translates to modest numbers that pale in comparison to states like Gujarat, which alone has installed more systems under the scheme than exist in all of Delhi across all programs.

The Historical Pattern: Always Behind

Delhi's underwhelming performance under PM Suryaghar is not an aberration—it's a continuation of a long-standing pattern. Looking at cumulative rooftop solar installations across India as of January 2025, Delhi had only 294.6 MW installed, representing just 13% of the northern region's total capacity and barely 1.8% of India's 16.3 GW national rooftop solar capacity.

To put this in perspective, within the northern region alone, Haryana had 804.5 MW, Punjab 440 MW, and even Uttar Pradesh—often criticized for implementation challenges—had 319.3 MW. Delhi, despite being the national capital with the highest per capita income in the region, trails behind. At the national level, the contrast is even starker: Gujarat had nearly 5,000 MW, Maharashtra over 3,000 MW, and Rajasthan approximately 1,500 MW.

Even accounting for Delhi's limited geographical area, the per capita or per square kilometer installation rates tell a similar story of underperformance. States with comparable or higher population densities have managed significantly better deployment.

The Subsidy Paradox

What makes Delhi's poor performance particularly perplexing is that the city offers one of the most generous subsidy packages in the country. Under the Delhi Solar Policy 2024, consumers receive the central government subsidy of up to Rs 78,000 for a 3 kW system, plus an additional state capital subsidy of up to Rs 10,000, plus generation-based incentives of Rs 3 per unit for systems up to 3 kW for five years.

Analysis shows that with these combined incentives, a Delhi household installing a 3 kW system can recover costs in as little as 30 months, compared to 54 months without subsidies. This is among the most attractive payback periods in India.  

Yet despite these financial advantages, Delhi has failed to convert potential into actual installations. The problem, clearly, is not the attractiveness of the proposition but the effectiveness of its implementation. Blaming the free electricity scheme is pointless, as despite that, there remains enough potentials in the capital's vast spread of colonies and apartrments for more solar installations. 

Where the System Breaks Down

Multiple factors contribute to Delhi's solar underperformance, many of which lie squarely at the feet of the discoms:

Slow Approval and Installation Processes: Despite the PM Suryaghar scheme's digital platform designed for streamlined approvals, vendors and consumers report persistent delays in approvals, net meter installations, and inspections. The very facilitation that discoms are meant to provide under the scheme often becomes a bottleneck.

Subsidy Disbursement Delays: While the scheme promises subsidy disbursement within 30 days of submission of commissioning certificates, ground reality often differs. Delayed subsidies erode consumer confidence and deter new applicants.

Inadequate Consumer Awareness: Though discoms have launched awareness campaigns like Solar Sakhis and Solar Melas, the scale and reach remain insufficient. States like Gujarat have demonstrated that aggressive, sustained awareness drives are essential for mass adoption.

Limited Focus on Ease of Process: The conversion ratio—successful installations as a percentage of applications—remains concerningly low. This suggests systemic issues in the application-to-installation pipeline that discoms have not adequately addressed.

Focus On Selling More Over Going Green: Nothing demionstrates the differing approach better than the difference between adding EV charging points and solar installations. On EV charging points, Delhi has emerged a leader, with over 6000 points, as the process has been made seamless and simple, thanks to the opportunity to sell more power.   

The Credibility Cost

Delhi's discoms' participation in the P2P trading pilot while failing to deliver on basic solar deployment creates a credibility problem. It raises questions about priorities: Are discoms more interested in showcasing technological innovations than in the hard work of ground-level implementation? Is the focus on pilots and experiments coming at the cost of scaling proven solutions?

The situation recalls similar patterns in India's renewable energy sector—ambitious announcements of new initiatives, while existing programs languish due to implementation gaps. The P2P pilot, however well-designed, risks becoming another case of putting the cart before the horse.

Moreover, the poor PM Suryaghar performance undermines Delhi's broader renewable energy targets. The Delhi Solar Policy 2024 aims to achieve 4.5 GW of solar capacity by March 2027, with 750 MW from rooftop solar. At the current pace of installation, meeting even a fraction of this target appears challenging.

Lessons from Other States

Gujarat's success in PM Suryaghar offers instructive lessons. The state's achievement of over 5.15 lakh installations stems from several factors: proactive discom engagement, streamlined approval processes, strong political will, sustained awareness campaigns, and effective coordination between state and central agencies.

Notably, Gujarat's discoms have embraced facilitation as a core responsibility rather than a bureaucratic obligation. They have simplified procedures, accelerated approvals, and actively promoted solar adoption through multiple channels.

Kerala's high conversion ratio (over 65% of applications translating to installations) demonstrates that efficient process management is achievable. These states show that the challenge is not insurmountable—it requires commitment and focus.

Actions Must Follow Words

Delhi's discoms stand at a crossroads. They can continue to participate in pilot programs and innovative experiments while their core mandate of solar deployment remains unfulfilled. Or they can recognize that true leadership in India's energy transition requires delivering results at scale, not just showcasing cutting-edge platforms.

The capital's residents deserve better than promises and pilots.  Choking with polluted air, Delhi can do a far better job of improving selkf-sufficiency with clean energy that solar can provide, instead of creating friction with other states for its higher power needs while demanding the shutdown of polluting thermal plsnts in the vicinity.   

The time for talk has passed. Now is the time for action.