Imphal: The Tengnoupal district administration, in collaboration with the District Energy Society, has launched ‘SURYA-SETU’, a community-driven solar energy pilot aimed at extending the benefits of the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana to remote hill and border villages along the Myanmar frontier.
Launched on September 28, the initiative seeks to address several challenges that have limited the adoption of rooftop solar systems in remote areas, including weak rooftops, limited access to authorised vendors, documentation difficulties and inadequate access to bank financing.
Rather than relying on individual household installations, SURYA-SETU brings households together through village-level energy institutions to facilitate collective adoption of solar power. The model is expected to enable bulk deployment by vendors, institutional financing, local financial management and long-term maintenance by trained village technicians.
The National Informatics Centre (NIC), Manipur, is also developing a digital platform to monitor key aspects of the programme, including enrolment, subsidy disbursement, electricity generation, repayments and grievance redressal.
The pilot’s first phase is being implemented in Khangshim, Machi, Minou, Maipou and Khunbi. More villages are expected to be brought under the initiative as local cooperatives are formed and communities meet the required readiness criteria.
The district administration plans to expand the use of these community-based energy institutions beyond household electricity generation. Future components may include battery storage systems, solar-powered water pumps, street lighting and solar appliances for productive activities.
Tengnoupal Deputy Commissioner Saurabh Yadav said SURYA-SETU is intended to bridge the gap between the availability of government solar schemes and their actual access at the last mile.
According to officials, the initiative is aimed at ensuring that households in isolated areas are not left out because of the logistical difficulties associated with individual installations.
The administration also hopes the model can be replicated in other hill and border districts, while improving energy security and financial inclusion in the strategically important border region.