KUSUM Scheme

Context:

  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved launch of Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) Scheme with the objective of providing financial and water security to farmers.

Aout KUSUM Scheme

  1. The scheme would provide extra income to farmers, by giving them an option to sell additional power to the grid through solar power projects set up on their barren lands.
  2. It was announced in the Union Budget 2018-19.

Component of KUSUM Scheme

The proposed scheme consists of three components:

Component-A

  • Renewable power plants of capacity 500 KW to 2 MW will be setup by individual farmers/ cooperatives/panchayats /farmer producer organisations (FPO) on their barren or cultivable lands.
  • The power generated will be purchased by the DISCOMs at Feed in tariffs determined by respective SERC.

Component-B

  • Installation of 17.50 lakh standalone Solar Powered Agriculture Pumps.
  • Individual farmers will be supported to install standalone solar pumps of capacity up to 7.5 HP. Solar PV capacity in kW equal to the pump capacity in HP is allowed under the scheme.

Component-C

  • Solarization of 10 Lakh Grid-connected Solar Powered Agriculture Pumps is included in this component,
  • Individual farmers will be supported to solarise pumps of capacity up to 7.5 HP.
  • Solar PV capacity up to two times of pump capacity in kW is allowed under the scheme.
  • The excess available energy will be sold to DISCOM.

Expected benefits:

  1. The Scheme will have substantial environmental impact in terms of savings of CO2 emissions.
  2. All three components of the Scheme combined together are likely to result in saving of about 27 million tonnes of CO2 emission per annum.
  3. Further, Component-B of the Scheme on standalone solar pumps may result in saving of 1.2 billion liters of diesel per annum and associated savings in the foreign exchange due to reduction of import of crude oil.
  4. Besides increasing self-employment the proposal is likely to generate employment opportunity equivalent to 6.31 lakh job years for skilled and unskilled workers.

Source:PIB

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