New Delhi, Dec 16 (IANS) Over 20.42 lakh farmers have benefited through the PM-KUSUM scheme that enables them to set up solar power plants and irrigation pumps on their land, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, Shripad Yesso Naik, informed Rajya Sabha that the PM-KUSUM is a demand-driven scheme. The capacities and funds are allocated based on demand received and progress shown by states and UTs.
The minister tabled figures in the Upper House which show that the funds released over the last three years have shown a steady increase, reflecting the success of the scheme. During the first half of the current financial year (2025-26), a sum of Rs 2,031.5 crore has already been released under the PM-KUSUM scheme, compared with Rs 2,564.14 crore in 2024-25. The amount has gone up from Rs 996.33 crore released under the scheme in 2023-24.
The government launched the PM-KUSUM scheme in March 2019, which was scaled up in January 2024 to provide energy and water security to farmers, enhance their income, de-dieselize the farm sector, and reduce environmental pollution. The scheme has three components -- A, B and C.
The minister explained that under Component A, farmers are enabled to adopt solar energy, becoming Urjadata along with Annadata and increase their incomes. The farmers can lease their land for installation of solar power plants and can earn up to Rs 80,000/ha/year. For the plants commissioned under Component A, the median average income is Rs 4.5 lakh/MW per month.
Under Component B, the existing diesel pumps are replaced with solar pumps. Assuming consumption of 4.6 litres per day (for 5 HP pumps) and with current diesel cost of around Rs 87/litre, the farmer can achieve the breakeven in less than a year. This results in savings for farmers of at least Rs 60,000/year in diesel cost.
Under Component C, farmers can earn Rs 25000/acre/year by leasing the land for installation of solar projects, the minister added.
--IANS
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