TIRUCHI
The State government has asked the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) to identify farmers for installing subsidised solar power panels to operate agricultural pumpsets.
The scheme aims to provide energy security to the farmers to be implemented by the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency and the Tangedco. Farmers can avail 60% subsidy to install either rooftop or ground solar panels.
The remaining 40% will have to be borne by the farmers. The Central and State governments would share the subsidy burden equally.
Upon receiving the operational guidelines for implementing the scheme, Tangedco, Tiruchi, has embarked upon a task of collecting details of potential farmers, their connections, capacity of pumpsets, acreage and other details in Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Pudukottai, Karur, Ariyalur and Perambalur districts.
“The details of the scheme have been communicated to various forums of farmers,” a senior official of the Tangedco in Tiruchi told The Hindu .
The official said that the existing farmers, who availed free power services, would be taken as a base for identifying beneficiaries. The farmers, who had 3 HP to 7.5 HP, could avail the scheme. A solar power panel that could generate around 11 KW power was sufficient to run a 7.5 HP pump for eight hours.
The scheme would not only enable the farmers to become self sufficient in meeting the power requirement in operating pump sets but also facilitate them to earn money by generating solar power. If the farmers had excess power, more than their requirement, they could supply to the grid.
The Tangedco official said that the scheme was applicable to all farmers. To avail the scheme, farmers would have to give up the free agricultural connections. The benefits of solar power scheme would be circulated to various forums of agriculturists. The Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency would create awareness about the benefits of solar power among the farmers.
