4789 MW RE Capacity Sanctioned Under Component A of KUSUM Scheme

Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy RK Singh has detailed that under Component-A of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme 4789 MW of renewable energy (primarily decentralised solar) capacity has been sanctioned across farms in India.

While answering a question in the Lok Sabha, Singh said that the Scheme has been created with the objective of helping provide water and energy security to farmers and also enhances their income through installation of standalone solar pumps, solarisation of existing grid-connected agricultural pumps and allowing farmers to install grid-connected solar power plants up to 2 MW on their barren/fallow land for selling power to the electricity distribution companies (Discoms).

The minister also clarified that as of November 4, 2020, the renewed target capacities under the three components of the scheme are:

Component-A: 10,000 MW of Decentralized Ground Mounted Grid Connected Renewable Power Plants Kusum scheme

Component-B: Installation of 20 lakh standalone Solar Powered Agriculture Pumps.

Component-C: Solarisation of 15 Lakh Existing Grid-connected Agriculture Pumps. 

The minister also provided data on the state-wise capacities sanctioned under the Scheme so far, which are currently under various stages of implementation.

The data shows that so far 4789 MW capacity has been sanctioned Component-A across India. Taking a deeper look in the numbers shows that 9 states accounted for 4445 MW or roughly 93 percent of the total sanctioned capacity in the country.

Of this, Rajasthan leads every other state by a considerable margin when it comes to sanctioned capacity under Component-A with 1200 MW so far, with the second-highest capacity being 500 MW held by five other states (Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat). 

Behind these six states, there are 22 states and UTs that are yet to make a move in this direction with sanctioned capacity =< 10 MW so far. 

The data also revealed that under Component-B (installation of 20 lakh standalone solar powered agriculture pumps) 3.7 lakh installations are under development. Maharashtra with 100,000 standalone pumps sanctioned/ installed is the clear leader in the country. Behind Maharashtra is Rajasthan with 75,000 pumps sanctioned and the central state of Madhya Pradesh with 60,000. 

Under Component-C, for Individual Pumps Solarisation, the ministry data shows that 77068 have been sanctioned. While for Feeder Level Solarisation, 167,5000 have been sanctioned so far and are currently under different phases of development. Rajasthan with 37,500 leads in the Individual Pumps category, while Maharashtra and Karnataka with 50,000 each lead in the Feeder Level category.

Answering a separate question on whether the scheme has been converged with Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PM-KSY) and Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, the Minister also said that “the Department of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare is implementing Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) and “Per Drop More Crop” component under PM-KSY. These instruments respectively focus on enhancing the availability of financing to farm infrastructure and enhancing water use efficiency at farm level through Micro Irrigation systems. 

“Directions have been issued to States to enable convergence of these instruments with PM-KUSUM Scheme. If a group of farmers organised as a self-help group/joint liability group/water user association and similar other forms for availing benefit under Component “B‟ and “C‟ of the KUSUM Scheme, they are also eligible for availing interest subvention facility of AIF. However, separate allocation of funds has not been made for convergence projects.”

Finally, the minister also detailed that under Component-C of the scheme provision of Feeder Level Solarisation has been included for which detailed guidelines were issued on December 4, 2020.

In feeder level solarisation, solar plants can be installed through RESCO/ CAPEX model for feeding power to single or multiple agriculture feeders for which Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of 30 percent of the cost of the solar power plant is provided considering the cost of the solar power plant as Rs 3.5 crore/MW. There is a provision of a higher CFA of 50 percent in the case of northeastern states, hilly states/ UTs, and island UTs for implementation through CAPEX model.