PM KUSUM: Ambitions Continue to Overpower Ground Work in 2023

PM KUSUM: Ambitions Continue to Overpower Ground Work in 2023

The Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy and Power R.K. Singh has informed that 2.73 lakh standalone solar pumps have been installed under PM-KUSUM as on October 31, 2023. Not surprisingly, Component A has barely seen installations, with Component C being disappointing. Component B has fared better relatively.

Component A Installations Fail to Impress

There are barely any installations under Component A, with most states seeing zero installations. Rajasthan has installed the highest capacity at 102.5 MW, followed by Himachal Pradesh at 22.45 MW.

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Other states, such as Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra have been extremely slow to take off with respective capacities of 500 MW, 424 MW, 600 MW, 700 MW being sanctioned. However, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu despite the ambitious sanctioned capacities have failed to see installations while Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have installed just 11 MW and 2 MW respectively.

Consequently, just 140.2 MW has been installed as opposed to the 4766 MW sanctioned.

As on 31.10.2022 an aggregate solar capacity of 73.45 MW had been installed under Component- A of the Scheme against total allocation of 4886 MW capacity.

Component B Installations- A Relative Success Over Component A

Component B, when compared to Component A and C, is a greater success story, seeing at least some success on ground, boasting higher installations.

The sanctioned capacity under this particular Component was 946471 while installations stand at 272916 MW. This is not even close to half the sanctioned capacity.

In this Component, Jharkhand has the highest installations at 12985 MW. Haryana, with 64919 MW, Maharashtra with 71958 MW, Punjab with 12952 MW, Rajasthan with 59732 MW also reflect good numbers.

Component C Moves at Snail-Pace

Component C, which had set high ambitions with sanctioned capacity of 2912466 MW has is far from the number at a mere 4562 MW.

Goa, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tripura, West Bengal are the only states that have reported installations with Kerala claiming the highest share of installations under this Component at 2417 MW.

Thus, Component B has seen the highest installations with 122930 MW capacity. 

Efforts to Accelerate PM KUSUM in 2023

Maharashtra has been bullish about giving a push to the establishment of solar pumps in the state.

The year began with the State’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announcing that the state government plan to provide the farmers of Maharashtra with solar pumps. The Deputy CM held that the plan is to benefit five lakh farmers of the state in the new offering. A few days later, MSEDCL also issued a tender for the procurement of cumulative 500 MW solar power from decentralised solar projects under Component C of the Scheme.

Several other tenders have been released in the year under Component C from JVVNL, PGVCL (Gujarat) for 921 MW, UPNEDA with 1000 MW.

In a major announcement coming from the MNRE in September, it extended the waiver of the Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) for solar cells under the Component C of the PM-KUSUM scheme. 

In a bid to give an impetus under the scheme, Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HREDA) issued a notification seeking applications from farmers for solar irrigation pump connections under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthan Mahabhiyaan (PM-KUSUM). Under the scheme, the Haryana government said it was offering a 45 percent subsidy from the state government besides the 30 percent central government subsidy. Thus, any farmer who wants to install solar irrigation pumps under the scheme would be eligible for a total subsidy of 75 percent. The farmers, therefore, would have to pay only 25 percent of the total cost.

Further, HREDA announced the opening of the same from November 22 to November 30 for the solar pump applicants. The department said that the beneficiaries can use the state portal to submit their share of the investment and also select the vendors.

In another attempt to give a push to the scheme, in August, the Haryana New and Renewable Energy Department opened its PM-KUSUM State Portal to collect beneficiary shares and allow the solar water pump applicants to select vendors.

Uttar Pradesh, which has installed 31752 MW capacity under Component B and nil capacity under the other two Components, has decided to pull up its socks, it seems, with the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) listing a total identified land of up to 195 acres under the scheme.