DC Tengnoupal launches SURYA-SETU to take PM Surya Ghar to remote villages
Source: The Sangai Express

Tengnoupal, September 30 2026: The District Administration, Tengnoupal, in collaboration with the District Energy Society, has launched SURYA-SETU, a district-led community solar pilot initiative designed to take the benefits of PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana to the last mile in remote hill and border villages of Tengnoupal on Tuesday.

SURYA-SETU has been conceived to address the practical barriers that often prevent rural households from adopting rooftop solar despite being eligible under the national scheme.

These include limited access to vendors and bank finance, scattered habitations, unsuitable or weak rooftops, difficulties in documentation, lack of local technical support and uncertainty around maintenance and repayment, said a press release by Under this initiative, households are structured into village-level energy institutions to facilitate collective solar adoption rather than individual household installations.

The model aims to facilitate aggregated vendor deployment, institutional financing, transparent member-wise repayment, local bookkeeping, trained village technicians and longterm maintenance support.

A digital platform is also being developed by NIC Manipur, Tengnoupal District Unit, to provide visibility over enrolment, subsidy status, generation, repayment, maintenance and grievances.

As part of the first phase, five villages have already been boarded: Khangshim, Machi, Minou, Maipou and Khunbi.

Additional villages will be brought under the initiative in a phased maimer as village cooperatives are formed, households are mapped, and implementation readiness is established.

The District Administration intends to use the initiative to build financially credible and self-sustaining village institutions that can, over time, take up battery storage, solar water pumps, street lighting, productive-use appliances and other renewable-energy services.

Speaking on the initiative, Deputy Commissioner, Tengnoupal, Saurabh Yadav stated that SURYA-SETU seeks to bridge the gap between scheme availability and actual last-mile access, ensuring that poorer and geographically isolated households are not excluded simply because individual implementation is difficult or uneconomic.

More villages across Tengnoupal district will be progressively onboarded under SURYA-SETU, to develop a replicable model for community-based renewable-energy deployment in other hill and border districts as well.

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