With delays plaguing the ₹34,000-crore PM-KUSUM programme meant to boost solar energy infrastructure in agriculture, States have begun experimenting with alternate approaches to improve adoption. The Pradhan Mantri-Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) envisages setting up 100 GW of solar power plants in farmer-owned land, installing 14 lakh solar pumps, and solarising 35 lakh grid-connected agricultural pumps.
So far, only 256 MW of power plants, 3.97 lakh solar pumps, and 13,500 solarised pumps have been installed as of June 2024. The low uptake has forced the government to push the scheme’s deadline to 2026.
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A key hurdle is the unavailability of suitable land. Solar power in India has grown on the back of utility scale power projects in Gujarat and Rajasthan where vast tracts of deserts and uncultivable land are suitable for setting up power plants.
With agricultural land, it is often a challenge to find enough parcels of land that can be pooled together and made available to a power project developer, said Saurabh Kumar, Vice President-India, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP). The latter is a collaboration of the IKEA Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund, and works on clean energy adoption and financing the transition away from fossil fuel in developing countries.
“We have been working with the Rajasthan government by developing a digital platform that uses drone technology to map land parcels. While this is information that is available to the government, often there is little institutional capacity to actually execute projects,” said Mr. Kumar. “We connect with farmers and power developers. GEAPP sees itself as a honest broker.”
“As of date 12.3 MW has already been installed in Rajasthan. The plan is to touch 100 MW in 2024,” said Mr. Kumar. Plans are afoot to apply this approach in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh following Rajasthan, he added.
The digital platform allows tracking the scheme’s progress in real-time allowing for “prompt corrective actions and provides a level of oversight crucial for the successful deployment of large-scale solar projects, where delays and mismanagement can have significant repercussions,” a GEAPP document noted.
Farmers willing to set up solar modules on their lands are paid rent by the power project developer. “GEAPP looks to ensure that landowners receive fair compensation, with lease rates linked to prevailing market rates and adjusted for inflation. GEAPP’s digital solutions and on-ground support have helped mitigate these issues, enabling Rajasthan to lead in achieving its renewable energy targets,” according to the document. According to the Ministry for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), of the 256 MW installed nationally, nearly 200 MW of solar capacity is situated in Rajasthan alone.
