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General Studies 2 >> Polity

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PM KUSUM

PM KUSUM

1. About

PM-KUSUM Scheme was launched in 2019, PM-KUSUM and aims to help farmers access reliable daytime solar power for irrigation, reduce power subsidies, and decarbonize agriculture.

PM-KUSUM provides farmers with incentives to install solar power pumps and plants in their fields.

2. Aim

  • PM-KUSUM Scheme is targeted to achieve 10000 MW capacity through the installation of grid-connected solar power plants each of capacity up to 2 MW under Component A and solarisation of 35 lakh agriculture pumps under Component-B and Component-C.
  • PM-KUSUM is a demand-driven scheme and capacities are allocated based on demand received from the states.

Scheme aim to increase the country's solar water pumps manufacturing capacity:

  1. The target of installation or solarisation of 35 lakh pumps through central financial support under the Scheme provides visibility of demand in the coming years.
  2. Condition of the domestic content requirement for participation in Component-B and Component-C.
  3. Direct participation of manufacturers of solar pumps/ solar photovoltaic modules/ solar pump controllers either as sole bidder or member of a Joint Venture, in bidding under Component-B and Component-C.

3. Implementing Agency

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is the implementing Agency.

 Two major schemes for decentralized solar power production.

  1. PM-KUSUM scheme targeted to achieve 10000 MW capacity through the installation of grid-connected solar power plants each of capacity up to 2 MW under Component A and solarisation of 35 lakh agriculture pumps under Component- B and Component-C; and
  2. Rooftop Solar Programme Phase II is targeted to achieve 40 GW rooftop solar capacity in the country. The timeline of both the schemes has been extended till 31.3.2026

4. Features

  • The implementation agencies in the States/ UTs have to provide priority to the small and marginal farmers while selecting the beneficiaries.
  • Separate budgetary allocations are made under the Scheme for the beneficiaries belonging to Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes and also those living in the North-Eastern States.
  • Therefore, benefits under the Scheme are already available to the economically backward groups/areas of the country.
  • The barren lands of the farmers will be used to install about 10000 MW of solar pumps.
  • Additional electricity generated from these pumps can be sold to the state electricity distribution companies called DISCOMs.
  • The DISCOMs will be able to get subsidies to buy this electricity.
  • The farmers will be able to get a subsidy of 60% for buying solar pumps. This amount will be transferred as a direct benefit transfer to their respective bank accounts.
  • The subsidy amount will be shared by the central and state governments.
  • 30 % of the remaining amount will be given as a loan to the farmers.
  • Thus, only 10% of the amount will have to be borne by the farmers.

5. Challenges

The effective and efficient roll-out of the PM-KUSUM Scheme was hindered by the following factors

  1. Pandemic-induced disruptions,
  2. Limited buy-in from States, and
  3. Implementation challenges
Unmet targets- Off-grid pumps have been the most popular, but the nearly 2, 80,000 systems deployed fall far short of the scheme’s target of two million by 2022.

6. Barriers

Barriers to adoption include limited awareness about solar pumps and farmers’ inability to pay their upfront contribution.
  1. Availability of low-cost financing for farmers and
  2. The state share of funds
  3. Their economic viability in the presence of high farm subsidies and
  4. Farmers’ potential unwillingness to feed in surplus power when selling water or irrigating extra land is a more attractive prospect.

7. Significance

  • The scheme will open a stable and continuous source of income to rural landowners for 25 years by utilization of their dry or uncultivable land.
  • It would also help increase the production of green energy and generate employment in rural areas and would later provide for the solarisation of tube wells and lift irrigation projects of the government sector.
  • The scheme would ensure that sufficient local solar or other renewable energy-based power is available for feeding rural load centres and agriculture pump-set loads, which require power mostly during the daytime.
  • As these power plants will be located closer to the agriculture loads or 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 pumps and provide the farmers with a reliable source of irrigation solar pumps.
  • The scheme will help in preventing harmful pollution formed from running diesel pumps.

For Prelims & Mains

For Prelims: DISCOMs, PM-KUSUM, 
For Mains: 
1. What is PM-KUSUM and discuss the major challenges in it's implementation  (250 Words)

Source: PIB


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