# How to Get a Solar Loan for an MSME in India

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/solar-loan-for-msme-india

Published 2026-10-13.

Rooftop solar is often the first green project an Indian MSME takes on. It cuts the electricity bill from the first month, it needs no change to the production process, and banks understand it well. The question is which loan to use and what the bank will ask for.

This article walks through how bank solar loans for MSMEs typically work, using two published schemes as examples, and what to prepare.

## What a bank solar loan looks like

State Bank of India's **Surya Shakti** solar finance is one widely available example. Its published terms for MSMEs include:

- **Loan size:** up to ₹10 crore.
- **Repayment:** up to 10 years, including an initial moratorium.
- **Your contribution:** at least 20 percent of the project cost.
- **Eligibility:** Udyam registration, a grid-connected system with net metering, and promoters with CIBIL scores of at least 650.
- **Security:** collateral is not mandatory if the bank judges security coverage adequate; promoters give personal guarantees.
- **Pricing:** linked to the bank's external benchmark rate. Processing fees and the spread have differed between versions of the published page, so ask for the current figures.
- **Prepayment:** no charges, per the published terms.

Other banks' products differ in ways that matter. Indian Bank's IND-Surya Shakti, for example, asks for collateral in the form of an equitable mortgage on the property where the plant is installed. Compare at least two banks on rate, fees, tenor and security, not just the headline.

## Is it worth it?

The return depends on three things: your electricity tariff, how much of the solar output you use during working hours, and your state's net metering rules. A factory that uses most of its solar power on site recovers the cost far faster than one that exports most of it. The [energy transition savings calculator](https://senseible.earth/calculators/energy-transition-savings) models payback from your own numbers.

## What to prepare

1. **Udyam registration** and the business's financial statements, as the bank requires.
2. **Twelve months of electricity bills,** with units consumed and sanctioned load.
3. **A quotation** from an installer, with system size, expected generation and equipment details.
4. **Roof ownership or lease documents,** and a structural check for larger systems.
5. **Net metering approval** from your distribution company, or the application.

## After installation

Keep the bills coming. Your post-solar bills show the reduction, which matters for your own reporting and for any future green loan. If you supply listed companies or EU buyers, they will also want to see it.

Senseible reads electricity bills for units and billing periods only, never consumer names or account numbers, and shows your grid use and emissions month by month, so the effect of the panels is visible and documented. For more routes, see [how to get a green loan in India](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/how-to-get-green-loans-india-carbon-data) and [green energy open access for factories in India](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/green-energy-open-access-india) if your roof is too small.

Confirm current terms with the bank before you apply.

## Related guides

- [ADEETIE scheme eligibility and application](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/adeetie-scheme)
- [what banks finance with green deposits](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/rbi-green-deposits-what-banks-finance)
- [rooftop solar finance for factories in Bangladesh](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/rooftop-solar-loan-factory-bangladesh)
- [green loan for a steel business in Johannesburg](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/green-loan-steel-business-johannesburg)