SAUBHAGYA Yojana: the free electricity connection scheme, what it delivered, and how a new home gets power today (2026)

Before you read the full story, here is the honest one-screen checklist for SAUBHAGYA in 2026. Tick down it and you will know exactly where you stand.

SAUBHAGYA is the short name for Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana. The Union government announced it in September 2017 with one clear goal. Every un-electrified household in rural India, and every poor household in urban India, was to get an electricity connection. Crores of homes at that time still ran on kerosene lamps after dark. Children studied by lantern light, small shops shut early, and a mobile phone had to be charged at a neighbour's house. SAUBHAGYA was the last-mile push that carried the wire from the village transformer to the individual front door.

The scheme did not build power plants or big lines. Those came under other programmes. SAUBHAGYA paid for the final connection itself. That means the service wire from the pole to your home, the meter, and the basic wiring inside for a single light point. For homes far from any grid line, it allowed a small solar power pack instead.

Picture a farm-labour household in a small hamlet before 2017. The nearest electric pole is a few hundred metres away, but no line reaches their mud house. Each evening the family lights two kerosene lamps. The children cough from the smoke, the monthly kerosene bill eats into food money, and after 8 pm the house is dark. When someone falls ill at night, they use a torch. Buying a connection on their own would cost more than a month of wages, so they never apply.

Now the same house after a SAUBHAGYA camp visits the village. A DISCOM team surveys the hamlet, records the family in the un-electrified list, and lays a service line to the wall. A meter goes up, one light point is wired, and the family is handed a set of LED bulbs and a fan. The connection costs them nothing because their name is in the poverty data. That evening the children study under a bulb, the phone charges at home, and the kerosene lamp goes into storage. Multiply that by close to 2.86 crore homes and you have the scale of what SAUBHAGYA changed.

When the scheme was running, a sanctioned connection covered the full last-mile kit at no cost to a poor household.

• Service line cable from the nearest pole or transformer to your house.
• An energy meter, often a pre-paid or smart meter, installed free.
• Single-point wiring inside for one light point.
• A set of 5 LED bulbs, one DC fan and one DC power plug for eligible homes.
• Repair and maintenance of the metering setup for 5 years.

For a household in a remote or hard-to-reach area where extending the grid was not practical, the connection came as a solar power pack. This was a battery pack of around 200 to 300 watts with 5 LED lights, one DC fan and a DC power plug, so even an off-grid home got usable light and a fan.

This is the part most people remember wrongly, so read it slowly.

• Poor households in the SECC 2011 data got the connection free. No charge at all. Their name was already in the deprivation list, so the DISCOM connected them at government cost.
• Households not found in that poor list still got the same connection, but for a token Rs 500. That Rs 500 was not paid upfront in one shot. It was recovered by the power department in 10 instalments of Rs 50 each, added to the normal electricity bill.

So no family was asked for a large lump sum. The design made the connection reach even those who could not put down money at the counter.

Here is the point where many websites still mislead readers, so this page will be plain about it.

SAUBHAGYA met its target. By 31 March 2019 the states had reported almost every willing household as electrified, with only a few thousand homes left in remote conflict-affected pockets. A later round covered lakhs of families who had earlier refused and then changed their minds. The scheme was formally closed on 31 March 2022 once the sanctioned works were finished. It has since been folded into the wider Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme, known as RDSS, which now carries the work of reaching any left-out home along with metering and network upgrades.

What this means for you is simple. There is no live SAUBHAGYA application window to fill in 2026. You cannot log in and enrol under this name. If you read a page that tells you to apply for SAUBHAGYA today, treat it with caution. The correct route for a brand-new connection now runs through your DISCOM under RDSS and your state connection rules.

If your house genuinely has no connection, you are not shut out. The connection process simply moved to the normal DISCOM channel. Here is the practical checklist.

1. Find your DISCOM. This is the power distribution company for your area, such as the state electricity board or a private discom. Its name is on any neighbour's bill.
2. Apply for a new connection. Most states take the application online on the DISCOM portal, and also at the local sub-division or section office. Ask for a new domestic connection.
3. Submit identity and address proof. Aadhaar, a ration card, and proof that you occupy the premises are the usual documents. Owners give ownership proof, renters give owner consent.
4. Pay the connection charge. A basic single-phase domestic connection is low-cost. Many states connect poor and rural households free or at a subsidised rate under RDSS and their own schemes. Ask the office to show you the current tariff order.
5. Site survey and meter fitting. The DISCOM inspects, lays the service line, and fits the meter. Ask in writing for the expected date.
6. First bill and start of supply. Once the meter is live, supply starts and billing begins on the normal cycle.

Keep the application number and every receipt. That paper trail is what lets you escalate later if the work stalls.

Rules vary by state, so confirm the exact list on your DISCOM portal before you visit the office.

• You were promised a SAUBHAGYA connection years ago and it never came. The scheme is closed, but your entitlement to a connection is not. Reapply to the DISCOM as a new connection and quote your old application details. If you were in the poor list, ask about free or subsidised connection under the current rules.
• The DISCOM says your area is not covered. Ask for that refusal in writing with the reason. A written refusal is what you need for the RTI and grievance route.
• Connection charge quoted looks too high. Ask to see the sanctioned tariff or estimate. Compare it with the standard schedule of charges published by the state regulator.
• Meter fitted but supply not started. Raise a grievance on the DISCOM portal or its consumer helpline, and note the complaint number.
• You are told to pay a middleman. A domestic connection is an official service with fixed charges. Deal only at the office or portal and insist on a receipt.

When a grievance call leads nowhere, a short Right to Information request to the DISCOM often gets the file moving, because the public authority then has to answer in writing within the legal timeline. Ask narrow, factual questions about the status of your application, the officer handling it, and the reason for any delay. You can draft one in minutes with the AI RTI Drafter, and the full filing and first-appeal process is laid out in The RTI Playbook.

SAUBHAGYA was launched in 2017 by the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under the Ministry of Power, as the last-mile household electrification arm of the wider power-for-all effort. You can see it alongside every other central and state welfare scheme on the All Modi-era Sarkari Yojana index 2014 to 2026.

No. The scheme was closed on 31 March 2022 after the electrification target was met. A new connection is now handled by your DISCOM under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme.

Yes for poor households in the SECC 2011 data. Other households got the same connection for Rs 500, recovered in 10 monthly instalments of Rs 50 on the electricity bill.

A free service line, a meter, single-point wiring, and a set of LED bulbs with a fan. Remote off-grid homes got a small solar power pack with LED lights and a DC fan instead.

Yes. Apply to your DISCOM for a new domestic connection. Many poor and rural households are connected free or at a subsidised rate under current state rules and RDSS.

The scheme dashboard remains at saubhagya.gov.in for records. For a new connection you use your state DISCOM portal.

Its work is now carried under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme, which reaches any left-out home and also handles metering and network upgrades.

• PM Surya Ghar free rooftop solar scheme
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• PM Awas Yojana Gramin rural housing
• Jal Jeevan Mission tap water connection
• Swachh Bharat Mission toilet grant
• Ration card under the food security law
• PM Jan Dhan zero-balance bank account
• All Modi-era Sarkari Yojanas 2014 to 2026

• Ministry of Power, SAUBHAGYA scheme portal and dashboard: saubhagya.gov.in
• PIB, Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana SAUBHAGYA scheme details and coverage
• Ministry of Power, Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme overview: powermin.gov.in
• India.gov.in, SAUBHAGYA scheme spotlight page

Last reviewed: 1 July 2026.

Reviewed by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak.

1. Step 1: What is Saubhagya Yojana and who is eligible? (a) Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) launched September 2017 by Ministry of Power, (b) objective: last-mile electricity connectivity to all households, © eligibility: (i) rural households without electricity, (ii) BPL families get free connection, (iii) APL families pay Rs 500 (recoverable in installments), (iv) SC/ST beneficiaries get special priority, (d) legal basis: Electricity Act 2003, National Electricity Policy.
2. Step 2: Beneficiary comparison table. (a) BPL rural: (i) connection fee: free, (ii) materials: free meter + wiring, (iii) subsidy: 100%, (b) APL rural: (i) connection fee: Rs 500 (installments), (ii) materials: meter free, wiring beneficiary pays, (iii) subsidy: partial, © Urban poor: (i) connection fee: Rs 500, (ii) materials: meter free, (iii) subsidy: partial, (d) SC/ST: (i) connection fee: free, (ii) materials: free, (iii) subsidy: 100%.
3. Step 3: How to apply for Saubhagya connection. (a) Step 1: Visit local DISCOM office or saubhagya.gov.in, (b) Step 2: Fill application with Aadhaar, BPL certificate, address proof, © Step 3: DISCOM verifies eligibility, (d) Step 4: Connection provided within 30 days, (e) Step 5: Solar pack option for remote areas.
4. Step 4: How to check Saubhagya status. (a) Online: saubhagya.gov.in — enter state, district, village, (b) Offline: DISCOM office enquiry, © RTI: file RTI for connection status.
5. Step 5: How to file RTI for Saubhagya. (a) DISCOM, Power Department, and Ministry of Power are public authorities under RTI Act, (b) RTI application can ask: (i) “Provide the Saubhagya connection status for village [name], district [name] including: total households, electrified, pending, BPL connections, reason for delay”, (ii) “Provide the Saubhagya statistics for [state] including: total target, achieved, pending, budget allocated, spent”, © application fee Rs 10.
6. Step 6: E-E-A-T signals. (a) Sources: saubhagya.gov.in, pib.gov.in, powermin.nic.in, (b) Last reviewed: July 2026, © Author: RTI Wiki Editorial Team.
7. Step 7: Practical tips. (a) keep BPL certificate ready, (b) apply at DISCOM office or online, © check status on saubhagya.gov.in, (d) file RTI if delayed beyond 30 days, (e) Example: A BPL family applied and waited 3 months; filed RTI; connection provided in 15 days.

See Saubhagya Yojana and PMMMVY and Soil Health Card and PM Jan Dhan.