Farmers in Andhra Pradesh missed out on an opportunity to install and tap potential solar energy through solar pump sets in their farmlands in the last five years, thanks to the previous State government’s failure to seek inclusion under the Central government’s PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan) Scheme.
Instead of increasing electricity tariff, the State government could have encouraged the farming community to set up the solar pump sets on their farmlands through this scheme, it is learnt.
“PM-KUSUM Scheme is a demand-driven Scheme and allocations are made based on the demand received from States. There is no demand received from the State of Andhra Pradesh under any component of PM KUSUM scheme and, thus, no allocation is made to the State,” revealed Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy and Power, in the Lok Sabha while replying to a question raised by B.K. Parthasarathi, TDP MP from Hindupur, on Wednesday.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had launched PM KUSUM Scheme in March, 2019, which was further scaled up in January 2024.
Mr. Yesso Naik informed that under Component A of the PM KUSUM scheme, Discoms invite applications for Expression of Interest (EoI) from prospective farmers, where they submit their applications for setting up solar power plants in the prescribed format.
The solar power plant under the scheme can be installed by the farmers on their own land either directly by themselves or in partnership with a group of farmers, cooperatives, panchayats, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO), Water User associations (WUA), or through a developer.
Other documents from the same Ministry, submitted to the Lok Sabha, revealed that except Andhra Pradesh, almost all other States have been encouraging their farmers under the scheme. All other southern States like Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and even backward and hilly States like Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Jharkhand, apart from States like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, have been benefiting under the scheme, it is learnt.
