The scheme aims to achieve de-dieselization through the following actions:
Component ‘A’: 10 GW capacity through installation of small solar power plants each of capacity up to 2 MW on the barren/fallow land of the farmers
Component ‘B’: Installation of 20 lakh standalone off-grid solar water pumps; and
Component ‘C’: Solarization of 15 lakh existing grid-connected agriculture pumps and through feeder level solarization (FLS).
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Component ‘A’: 10 GW capacity through installation of small solar power plants each of capacity up to 2 MW on the barren/fallow land of the farmers
As on 1.08.2023, 113.08 MW worth of small solar power plants have been established out of an approved 4716 MW of solar power plants
Component ‘B’: Installation of 20 lakh standalone off-grid solar water pumps
Of the 30 million agricultural pumps in India, about 8 million (26.5%) are diesel pumps, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in September 2021. Increased use of solar pumps among all agricultural irrigation pumps in use in India since 2014 has been accompanied by a proportionate decrease in the use of electric pumps, while the share of diesel pumps has remained steady since 2010, per data from the International Energy Agency.
Component ‘C’: Solarization of 15 lakh existing grid-connected agriculture pumps and through feeder level solarization (FLS).
In component C, IPS (sanctioned) stand at 1,21,930 while sanctioned FLS are numbered at 22,05,279. 1,519 have been installed.
If only diesel pumps are considered for substitution with solar pumps, the allocation of 2 million under KUSUM-B is only one-fourth of the need.
The farmer has to bear up to 40% of the cost, depending on the extent of CFA and state government subsidy. But, with an average monthly income in 2018-19 of Rs 10,218, few farming households have income to spare, per findings of the Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India (SAS) survey, 2019. Half (50.2%) of India's agricultural households were in debt, with the average outstanding loan worth about Rs 74,000, IndiaSpend reported in September 2021. This is before the Covid-19 pandemic's economic shock to the rural economy.
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