PM KUSUM scheme

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evem Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) Scheme for farmers for installation of solar pumps and grid connected solar and other renewable power plants in the country.

To provide energy and water security to farmers and enhance their income, de-dieselize the farm sector, and reduce environmental pollution, the Government of India launched PM-KUSUM on 08.03.2019.   During 2020-21, the scheme was scaled-up and expanded from its pilot stage and notified with due approval of Ministry of Finance. In August 2022, the scheme was extended till March 2026. 

The scheme aims to add Solar capacity of about 34,800 MW by March 2026 with the total Central Financial support of Rs 34,422 crore. 

Scheme Components

The Scheme consists of three components:

1. Component A:  Setting up of 10,000 MW of Decentralized Ground/ Stilt Mounted Grid Connected Solar or other Renewable Energy based Power Plants by the farmers on their land 
2. Component B:  Installation of 14 Lakh Stand-alone Solar Agriculture Pumps 
3. Component C:  Solarisation of 35 Lakh Grid Connected Agriculture Pumps including Feeder Level Solarization

During the extended tenure of the scheme beyond 2022 and until March 2026, the following amendments have been made.

• Inter-se transfer of quantities across Component B and C are being allowed
• Under Component-B and Component-C of the Scheme, Central Financial Assistance (CFA) will be available for pump capacity upto 15 HP to the individual farmers in the North eastern States;  UTs  of Jammu  &  Kashmir and  Ladakh; and  the  States of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. However, the CFA for pumps up to l5 HP will be restricted to 10% of the total installations.
• The condition or the domestic content requirement for solar cells has been waived off for the feeder level solarization under Component-C for the projects awarded by the implementing agency on or before 20.06.2023.
• Budgetary allocation or Rs. 10,000 Crore approved by CCEA will be utilized before accessing the extra-budgetary resources.

Scheme implementation

State Nodal Agencies (SNAs) of MNRE will coordinate with States/UTs, Discoms and farmers for implementation of the scheme.

Component A:

• This Component aims at setting up of 10,000 MW of Decentralized Ground/ Stilt Mounted Grid Connected Solar or other Renewable Energy based Power Plants by farmers on their land.
• Solar or other Renewable Energy based Power Plants (REPP) of capacity of 500 kW to 2 MW will be setup by Renewable Power Generator (RPG).
• The REPP will be preferably installed within five km radius of the sub-stations in order to avoid high cost of sub-transmission lines and to reduce transmission losses.
• The total energy purchased from these RE plants will be accounted for Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) under Decentralized Renewable Energy (DRE) category by the DISCOM. 
• The REPP under the scheme would be installed by the farmers on his own land either directly by himself or in partnership with group of farmers/ cooperatives/ panchayats/ Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO)/Water User associations (WUA), or through a developer.
• Group of farmers/ cooperatives/ panchayats/ Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO)/ Water User associations (WUA) etc. can opt for developing the REPP through developer(s). The farmer may provide his land to the DISCOM, which will then be considered as RPG in this case. In such a case, the land owner will get lease rent as mutually agreed between the parties. The lease rent may be in terms of Rs. per year per acre of land or in terms of Rs. per unit energy generated per acre of land area. The farmer(s) may opt for payment of lease rent directly in their bank account by the DISCOM, from the payment due to the developer. 

Component B:

• This Component is for installation of standalone Solar Pumps/replacement of diesel pumps by solar pumps.
• Under this Component, individual farmers will be supported to install standalone Solar Agriculture pumps or replacement of existing diesel Agriculture pumps / irrigation systems in off-grid areas, where grid supply is not available.  
• Priority would be given to small and marginal farmers and farmers using micro irrigation.
• Pumps of capacity higher than 7.5 HP may be allowed, but the CFA will be limited to the CFA applicable for pump of 7.5 HP. 
• For the individual farmers in the North-Eastern region (NER); Hilly region (Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh) and Islands (Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep), the CFA will be available for pump capacity up to 15 HP, however the CFA for pumps up to 15 HP will be restricted to 10% of total installations
• Maximum Solar PV capacity in kW is allowed as per the pump capacity in HP, in accordance with the MNRE specifications. For example, 3 HP pump capacity cannot have solar capacity of more than 3 kW. 
• DISCOMs/ Agricultural Department/ Minor Irrigation Department/ any other Department designated by State Government will be the implementing agencies for this component.
• Agricultural Department may be prioritized as State Implementing Agency (SIA) by the State Governments given their extensive network of Agri and allied services along with embedded human resource availability.  
• Implementing agency will get service charges as applicable under Scheme Guidelines 

Component C:

• This Component aims at solarization of grid connected agriculture pumps including Feeder Level Solarization
• The objective of this component is to provide reliable day-time solar power to farmers, enhancing their income by purchasing surplus solar power and thus incentivizing them for saving water
• Under Individual Pump Solarization (IPS), solar PV capacity up to two times of pump capacity in kW is allowed, so that the farmer will be able to use the generated solar power to meet the irrigation needs and get additional income by selling surplus solar power to DISCOMs.
• Under Feeder Level Solarization (FLS), States are supported for solarization of agricutlural feeder or mixed feeders.
• DISCOMs /GENCO/ any other Department designated by State Government will be the implementing agencies
• State Implementing agencies will submit proposals to MNRE for approval.
• In case of dark zones/black zones only existing grid connected pumps will be solarized.
• Implementing agency will get service charges as applicable under Scheme Guidelines.  

Scheme benefits

The scheme will open a stable and continuous source of income to the rural land owners for a period of 25 years by utilisation of their dry/uncultivable land. Further, in case cultivated fields are chosen for setting up solar power project, the farmers could continue to grow crops as the solar panels are to be set up above a minimum height.

The scheme would ensure that sufficient local solar/ other renewable energy based power is available for feeding rural load centres and agriculture pump-set loads, which require power mostly during the day time. As these power plants will be located closer to the agriculture loads or to electrical substations in a decentralized manner, it will result in reduced Transmission losses for STUs and Discoms. Moreover, the scheme will also help the Discoms to achieve the RPO target

The solar pumps will save the expenditure incurred on diesel for running diesel pump and provide the farmers a reliable source of irrigation through solar pump apart from preventing harmful pollution from running diesel pump. In light of the long waiting list for electric grid connection, this scheme will benefit 17.5 lakh farmers over a period of four years, without adding to the grid load.

To access the complete operational guidelines of the scheme, click here.

Source : Ministry of New and Renewable Energy