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Epitomizing the development mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas in its truest form, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) has reaped a rich harvest for the farmers across the nation when it comes to meeting their energy needs and harvesting the supreme sun energy for the irrigation in their farmlands.

The scheme implemented by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Government of India across the country is aimed at offering cleaner and cheaper alternatives to diesel-run agricultural pump sets used by farmers to irrigate farmlands with solar powerrun agricultural pumps. Moreover, it also supports the idea of ensuring daytime power supply to the farmers using solar energy for irrigation purposes.

The main objective of the PM KUSUM scheme is to add solar capacity with central financial support including service charges to the implementing agencies. The scheme has three major components which are as under:

• Component A: Solar capacity through the installation of small Solar Power Plants of individual plants of capacity up to 2 MW.
• Component B: Installation of standalone Solar Powered Agriculture Pumps.
• Component C: Solarization of Gridconnected Agriculture Pumps.

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE SCHEME

Component A

• Solar energy-based power plants (SEPP) of capacity up to 2 MW within the periphery of 5 KM from the Substation may be set up by individual farmers/groups of farmers/ cooperatives/ panchayats/ Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO)/ Water User associations (WUA).
• The solar power generated will be purchased by DISCOMs at a feed-in tariff (FiT) viz. Pre-fixed levelised tariff @2.95 per unit subject to approval of Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC).

Component B

• Individual farmers will be supported to install standalone solar Agriculture pumps of capacity up to 7.5 HP in off-grid areas, where grid supply is not available.
• Financial Mechanism

30% CFA from MNRE up to 7.5 HP
30% Subsidy from the State Government
40% Contribution by Farmer

• Challenges
• Under the State of Gujarat grid is available in most of the areas, however there are areas where the grid is to be passed through the forest areas, where installation of grid is techno/ commercially not viable due to additional expenditure incurred towards Compensatory afforestation charges and N.P.V (Net Present Value) charges.
• Moreover, in forest areas the farmers have relatively lesser land areas i.e. less than 1 Acre land.

Special Provision made under Gujarat

• In Gujarat special provision is made to provide additional subsidy in case of a line passing through a forest area and where grid connection is techno/ commercially not viable. In such cases, an applicant of the TASP area does not have to pay any contribution, while other than the TASP area, the applicant needs to pay only minimum fixed charges on a per KW basis as approved by GERC.
• Under the State of Gujarat, beneficiaries of forest areas having a minimum agricultural land area of 0.2 acres are allowed.

Component C: Individual Pump Solarisation (IPS)

• Individual farmers having gridconnected agriculture pumps will be supported by solarise pumps.
• 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.

Financial mechanism:
30% CFA from MNRE up to 7.5 HP
30% Subsidy from the State Government
40% Contribution by Farmer

Component C: Feeder Level Solarisation (FLS)

• Solar plants of capacity that can cater to the requirement of the agriculture load of the selected feeder can be installed by competitive bidding through RESCO mode for a project period of 25 years.
• CFA of 30% on the cost of installation of a solar power plant (up to Rs. 1.05 Cr/MW) will be provided to the RESCO.
• In Gujarat, an incentive of Rs. 0.10 per unit (for consuming power less than benchmark consumption) will be provided to farmers for saving water/ energy based on Benchmarked consumption.

Challenges:

• Initially upper ceiling for bidding tariff was fixed @ Rs. 2.40 per unit
• Lack of economies of scale for small-scale diffusion of about 1 MW.
• Technical qualification criteria viz. execution of supply, installation & commissioning of grid-connected solar power plant with a cumulative capacity of 500 kWp considering the capacity of individual solar power plants of 3 kWp or more during the last five years.
• Financial qualification criteria viz. positive net worth of last three financial years and in case of JV at least one member must full fill this requirement.
• Other Conditions viz. in principle land documents within 90 days from the date of issuance of work order after which PPA shall be signed, final land documents shall be submitted by SPG within 4 months after the date of signing the PPA.

Amendments made to overcome the challenges:

• Remove the upper ceiling for quoting the tariff under the FLS tender and allow the bidders to quote the tariff.
• To increase the viability of the project the eligible feeder is to be clubbed together in such a way that the plant capacity is formed to the tune of 4 MW.

To get more participation and discovery of reasonable and competitive tariffs, the following steps are initiated which are as under:

Bidder type:

• Instead of only the Developer (Company Ltd/Pvt Ltd/LLP/ Partnership/Proprietorship) bidding the tender, it is suggested that Company-Ltd/Pvt Ltd/LLP/ Partnership/Proprietorship/an individual/group of farmers/ cooperatives/ panchayats/ Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO)/Water User associations (WUA) or any legal body can participate and bid the tender.

Technical experience Criteria:

• Technical qualification criteria are removed.

Financial Criteria:

• Positive Net-Worth:-To get more participation leading to competition, the criteria relaxed to ask positive Net worth of the last year.

Joint Venture: to remove such restriction for the formation of JV so that individuals/farmers/firms with more than two can form a JV to participate in the bid.

Land document:

• The land documents shall be produced by the bidder at the time of commissioning of the project.

Computation of Solar Plant capacity & Bucket Filling:

• Instead of above 80% of 7.5HP connections of 11 KV feeder criteria, to cover all the feeders of the selected substation covering AG consumers’ load up to 7.5 HP.
• For a quoted solar capacity, the bidder is allowed to set up the project at multiple locations with a minimum project size of 0.5 MW and a maximum project size of 4 MW in a given sub-station.

PRESENT STATUS OF THE SCHEME

Standalone Solar Power Agriculture Pumps

• Total 2459 number of farmers from the state of Gujarat have received benefits under the Scheme
• Financial assistance provided to 2459 no. of farmers is as under;

a) CFA from MNRE (30%) – Rs. 2582.97 lakh
b) State subsidy (including additional subsidy) – Rs. 5580.68 lakh

MNRE has Sanctioned 5623 Nos. of pump sets.

a) GoG’s Budget:- Rs. 152.120 Cr
b) Total of 9 vendors allotted to Gujarat by MNRE are empaneled.
c) The PM KUSUM state portal was made open to accept applications from the beneficiary farmers for one month from 12-10-2023 and a total of 16,410 applications were received on the portal.
d) Issuance of Notice to Proceed (NTP) to the Agency to commence the work is under progress.

Component C: Feeder Level Solarisation (FLS)

• MNRE’s Allocation to Gujarat: 3 lakh Ag. pump sets

a) Unconditional acceptance of Letter of Intent (LoI) for around 637.118 MW capacity has been received from the successful bidders, which is equivalent to
solarization of around 2.83 Lakh AG Pumps.

b) Out of the above, a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) was issued for 569.646 MW Solar Capacity of around 2.5 lakh Agriculture consumers.

• MNRE’s Allocation to Gujarat: 1.25 lakh Ag. pump sets

a) PGVCL & UGVCL have invited tenders against the same for 2,34,787 no. of farmers covering a total solar plant capacity of 572 MW and further course of action on the same is under progress.

• MNRE’s Allocation to Gujarat: 2.00 lakh Ag. pump sets

a) Further course of action on the same is under progress.
b) Tender invitations by DISCOMs are under process.

The PM-KUSUM Scheme holds immense potential to revolutionize India’s agricultural energy landscape, providing sustainable and reliable energy solutions to farmers while contributing to the country’s broader energy goals. Accelerated and streamlined implementation, coupled with addressing on-the-ground challenges, will be crucial to realizing the scheme’s full impact.

Views shared by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited

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