Govt Agrees to Give Financial Assistance for Solar Agri Pumps Up to 15 HP Under PM-KUSUM: Khuba

The finance ministry has agreed to a proposal on the Central Financial Assistance (CFA) to solar pumps up to 15 Horse Power (HP) capacity in the north-eastern and Himalayan states, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

In 2019, the government launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) Scheme with 3 components.

Under the B component, individual farmers will be supported to install standalone solar agriculture pumps of capacity up to 7.5 Horse Power (HP) for replacement of existing diesel agriculture pumps/irrigation systems in off-grid areas, where grid supply is not available.

Pumps of capacity higher than 7.5 HP can also be installed, however, the financial support will be limited to 7.5 HP capacity.

“The finance ministry has agreed to allow CFA for solar pumps up to 15 HP capacity in the north-eastern and Himalayan states considering their topography, and also for community farming in high water table areas with the restriction that the total number of pumps of higher capacity will not be more than 10 per cent of the total allocation,” Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy Bhagwanth Khuba said in a reply to the Rajya Sabha.