Cabinet approves scheme to promote ‘floating’ solar plants
The Indian Union Cabinet has approved the Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana, a ₹5,070-crore scheme to promote floating solar power plants on water bodies. The program aims to reach 5,000 MW of capacity by 2030-31 while requiring integrated battery storage to manage peak demand.
Why it matters
This policy shifts renewable energy strategy toward utilizing water bodies to bypass land acquisition challenges for large-scale solar projects.
The Union Cabinet on Friday (July 31, 2026) approved the Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana (PM-SSY), a ₹5,070-crore scheme aimed at accelerating floating solar power by providing central financial assistance (CFA) of up to ₹1 crore per MW for projects installed on reservoirs and other water bodies.
The programme targets 5,000 MW of floating solar capacity by 2030-31.
The scheme, to be implemented by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), comes at a time when India has only about 0.7 GW of installed floating solar capacity despite an estimated technical potential of 102 GW.
Projects receiving support under the scheme will have to include battery energy storage equivalent to at least two hours, amounting to 10,000 MWh across the programme, to help States meet peak demand and reduce the curtailment of renewable power during periods of excess generation.
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