PM-KUSUM 2.0 may be aligned with farm schemes: Renewable energy secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi

New Delhi: The government plans to expand the scope of PM KUSUM, its green energy scheme for the farm sector, to incentivise farmers using solar-powered water pumps to adopt modern irrigation systems and shift to more remunerative crops in the scheme's next phase.

As part of the exercise, the ministries of renewable energy and agriculture are collaborating to align the proposed second phase of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyaan (PM-KUSUM 2.0) with existing agricultural schemes, renewable energy secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi told ET.

"There is some work going on on these ideas. So, once we are ready with that, then we will take it to the Cabinet for approval," Sarangi said. "PM KUSUM 2.0 is working on a larger objective of maximising farmers' benefits."


PM-KUSUM aims to promote solar energy use in agriculture through decentralised solar power plants, standalone solar pumps and solarisation of grid-connected irrigation pumps. Under component A of the scheme, farmers can set up solar plants of 500 kW to 2 MW capacity and sell electricity to distribution companies.

Component B of the scheme provides standalone solar pumps of up to 7.5 HP, mainly for farmers without reliable grid access, while component C allows existing grid-connected pumps to be solarised and allows farmers to sell surplus power to the grid. The existing scheme provides for feeder-level solarisation, wherein solar plants supply electricity to multiple agricultural pumps connected to a feeder.

Last month, renewable energy minister Pralhad Joshi had said that the next phase of the scheme will include a dedicated component for agrivoltaics. Agrivoltaics refers to the practice of using the same land for both farming and solar power generation. The agrivoltaics component will enable farmers to earn from the electricity produced with a focus on small and marginal farmers, farmer producer organisations, cooperatives and panchayats, while ensuring that land ownership remains with the farmer. "The agriculture ministry runs several schemes to promote remunerative crops," Sarangi told ET, adding that the renewable energy ministry is in discussions with it to align these initiatives.