Objectives

Salient features

• Incorporating renewable energy in farmers’ irrigation practices.
• Replacing high cost diesel with less expensive solar energy.
• Reducing the agriculture electricity subsidy burden on States and improving the financial health of DISCOMS 
• Helping farmers gain access to solar water-pumps at subsidized rates.
• Giving farmers an avenue to utilize their barren land through setting up of solar power plants for energy generation.

• Ministry: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
• Launch year: 2019
• Target: Add Solar capacity of about 34,800 MW by March 2026
• Type: central sector scheme
• Eligibility:
  • An individual farmer.
  • A group of farmers.
  • Farmer producer organization.
  • Panchayat.
  • Co-operatives.
  • Water User Associations.

Three Components

• 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.
  • Farmers can install Renewable Energy Power Plants (500 kW to 2 MW) on their own land, either individually or with groups/cooperatives.
    • Solar panels can be installed on cultivable land with crops grown below.
  • DISCOMs will purchase solar power at a feed-in-tariff (FiT) set by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC).
  • Procurement Based Incentive (PBI) @ 40 paise/kWh or Rs. 6.60 lakhs/MW/year, whichever is less, will be provided for the first five years by MNRE to DISCOMs, for buying the power from farmers/developers
  • The project site should be within 5 km of the nearest sub-station.
• Component B: Installation of 14 Lakh Stand-alone Solar Agriculture Pumps.
  • Individual farmers will be supported to install standalone solar Agriculture pumps of capacity up to 15 HP in off-grid areas, where grid supply is not available.
  • Centre and state to share 30% of pump cost each; farmer to provide the remaining 40% (can access bank loan for up to 30% of the cost).
    • In NER/Hilly Region and Islands, CFA of 50%, State Government subsidy 30%, Remaining 20% by the farmer
    • In case the State Government is not in a position to give its share of subsidy of 30%, farmers can still set up solar pumps with only Central Financial Assistance.
• Component C: Solarisation of 35 Lakh Grid Connected Agriculture Pumps including Feeder Level Solarization.
  • Individual Pump Solarisation (IPS) 
    • Individual farmers having grid connected agriculture pump will be supported to solarise pumps. Solar PV capacity up to two times of pump capacity in kW is allowed under the scheme
    • The farmer will be able to use the generated solar power to meet the irrigation needs and the excess solar power will be sold to DISCOMs.
    • Centre and state to share 30% of pump cost each; farmer to provide the remaining 40% (can access bank loan for up to 30% of the cost).
  • Feeder Level Solarisation (FLS)
    • Instead of the individual solar pumps the states can solarize the agriculture feeders. 
    • Where agriculture feeders are not separated, loan for feeder separation may be taken from NABARD or PFC/REC. 
      • Further, assistance for feeder separation may be availed from the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) of the Ministry of Power. However, mixed can also be solarised.
    • CFA of 30% on the cost of installation of solar power plant (up to Rs 1.05 Cr/MW for General States and Rs 1.75 Cr/MW for NER/Hilly Region and Islands) will be provided.
    • However, in the NER/Hilly Region and Islands 50% subsidy is available.