According to information presented to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday by Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, over 4.11 lakh farmers nationwide had benefited as of June 30 of this year from the PM-KUSUM initiative, which allows them to install irrigation pumps and solar power plants on their property.
The minister added that 51,097 farmers in the state had benefited from the PM-KUSUM as of July 29 of this year, according to data provided by the state implementing agency of Uttar Pradesh.
The PM-KUSUM program was introduced by the government in March 2019 and was expanded in January 2024 with the goals of giving farmers access to energy and water, increasing their income, de-dieselizing the agricultural sector, and lowering pollution levels in the environment.
Component-A, one of the three scheme components, allows farmers to install decentralized ground-mounted grid-connected solar or other renewable energy-based power plants up to a 2MW capacity on their property.
DISCOMs acquire the renewable energy produced by these power plants at the predetermined pricing.
Farmers are also entitled to lease rent if they lease their land to developers.
For a period of five years from the Commercial Operation Date, DISCOMs are eligible to receive a Performance Based Incentive (PBI) at the rate of Rs. 0.40 per unit purchased or Rs. 6.6 lakh per MW of installed capacity, whichever is less.
If the DISCOMs so choose, they may transfer the PBI granted to them by the Central Government under this component to the owner of the REPP in order to obtain a more favorable rate for RE Power.
Farmers can install standalone solar agriculture pumps under Component-B to irrigate their fields.
For the solar pumps, the government offers 30% central financial aid (or 50% for the North Eastern, Hilly, and Island regions). Under the Individual Pump Solarization (IPS) mode of the Component-C scheme, grid-connected agriculture pumps can be solarized. Additionally, feeder level solarization (FLS) of agricultural load is made possible.
Under Component-C, the government offers 30% central financial assistance (or 50% for the North Eastern Region, the Hilly Region, and the Islands) for both IPS and FLS. The farmers may now receive guaranteed solar electricity during the day thanks to this.
