Chennai: The Indian government could achieve 30 per cent of its renewable electricity generation target by simply switching from conventional to solar powered irrigation pumps, a report said.
According to a report titled “Solarisation of Agriculture” released by non-governmental environment organisation, Greenpeace, it “not only ensures assured access to irrigation and electricity, it also provides the farmer with the dual economic benefit of selling surplus electricity to the power distribution companies and selling water to (other) farmers”.
Citing the Suryashakti Kisan Yojana (SKY) scheme launched by the Gujarat State government, the NGO examined solar irrigation pump campaigns in the States of Tamilnadu, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Odisha.
The NGO said the Gujarati program sells solar panels to farmers at a highly subsidized rate – 60 per cent is covered by State and central government subsidies, the farmer pays five per cent and the remaining 35 per cent comes as an affordable loan.
Under the SKY program, farmers earn Rs 7 per unit of electricity supplied to the grid for seven years and Rs 3.5 per unit for a further 18 years, Greenpeace added, reported PV Magazine.
The report also delved into the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit-backed “pay-as-you-go” off-grid solar irrigation model applied in Bihar and considers a Tamilnadu case study about a solar village nearing completion in Irumbai.
The Maharashtra case study showcases the Mukhyamantri Saur Krishi Vahini Yojana program, which aims for solar power generation through small plants to ensure power supply for farmers and the Odisha study details the State’s Soura Jalanidhi scheme, which provides micro solar irrigation pumps to small farmers.
In 1992, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy started the Solar Pumping Program and in February 2018, the central government announced the Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) scheme to install off-grid solar irrigation pumps and to solarize grid-connected irrigation pumps.