Five Indian States Take 87% Of PM-KUSUM Benefits

Latest data from the government claims that Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh account for 87.24 percent of the total benefits under the PM-KUSUM scheme. It is indicated from the total number of solar pumps installed under Component B of the scheme. 

The statistics up to June 30, 2023, claimed that India installed 2.4 lakh solar pumps under the scheme. Out of these, the five states accounted for 2,13,204 pumps, which is around 87 percent of the total installed pumps in the whole country. 

This indicates that a fraction of Indian states fulfill most of the scheme’s objectives. The scheme is a part of the government initiative to promote renewable energy in the agricultural sector. 

The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Ujra Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) scheme has been playing a key role in driving the adoption of solar pumps in these states. The scheme provides financial assistance to farmers to install solar pumps. It also offers a buyback guarantee for the electricity generated by these pumps.

The same dataset also claimed a slow growth in many Indian states on this front. There is still a need to focus on laggard states, such as the northeastern states of Mizoram, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and southern states. 

The PM KUSUM scheme is a major initiative of the government to promote renewable energy in the agriculture sector. The scheme is classified into three components-Component A, Component B and Component C. While the first part focus on the installation of solar power systems at farmlands and barren lands, B deals with the installation of solar pumps to decarbonize irrigation while C talks about the solarisation of feeders. 

The PM KUSUM scheme has been hammers and tongs in promoting the adoption of renewable pumps in rural India. As of March 2023, the scheme has helped install over 2 million solar pumps and 100,000 wind pumps. The scheme has been a significant support in aiding over a million people by securing them jobs.