PM KUSUM Scheme
Context:
Recently, the Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy and Power has informed that the main objectives of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) include de-dieselisation of the farm sector, providing water and energy security to farmers, increasing the income of farmers, and curbing environmental pollution.
Relevance:
GS-02 (Government policies and interventions)
Main highlights:
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About: The PM-KUSUM was launched by the MNRE in 2019, in order to endow installation of off-grid solar pumps in rural areas and reduce dependence on grid, in grid-connected areas.
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Objective: It enables farmers to set up solar power generation capacity on their arid lands and to sell it to the grid. It also seeks to increase the income of farmers by allowing them to sell surplus solar power to the grid.
- The Scheme has three components targeted to achieve solar power capacity addition of 34.8 GW by 31.3.2026 with total central financial support of Rs. 34,422 Cr.
- The Scheme is demand driven and open for all farmers of the country for implementation as per guidelines issued for the Scheme.
- Component A: Setting up of 10,000 MW of Decentralized Ground/Stilt Mounted Solar Power Plants on barren/fallow/pasture/marshy/ cultivable land of farmers.
- Such plants can be installed by individual farmer, Solar Power Developer, Cooperatives, Panchayats and Farmers Producer Organisations.
- Component B: Installation of 14 Lakh Stand-alone Solar Pumps in off-grid areas.
- Component C: Solarisation of 35 Lakh Grid Connected Agriculture Pumps through individual Pump Solarisation and Feeder Level Solarisation.
- The beneficiaries under Component-B and Component-C could be individual farmer, Water User Associations, Primary Agriculture Credit Societies and Communities/Cluster Based Irrigation Systems.
