Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the launch of Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan. Kusum Scheme 2019 will provide financial and water security to the farmers. Kusum Solar Pump Yojana online application form available at kusum.online. Kusum Yojana has 3 components namely A, B & C which are going to be implemented to provide solar powered agriculture pumps.
All 3 components combined, Kusum scheme aims to add a solar capacity of 25,750 MW by FY 2022. The central govt. will provide total financial support of Rs. 34,422 crore under the Kusum Scheme. Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan is also going to generate employment opportunities directly and will also increase the self employment opportunities.
Kusum Yojana 2019 is going to generate 6.31 lakh jobs for skilled as well as unskilled workers.
Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan – Kusum Scheme Components
The proposed Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (Kusum scheme) will consist of three components:-
- Component A – 10,000 MW of Decentralized Ground Mounted Grid Connected Renewable Power Plants. This component will be implemented on pilot mode for 1000 MW capacity. Under component A, renewable power plants of 500 KW to 2 MW capacity would be setup by individual farmers / cooperatives / panchayats /farmer producer organisations (FPO) on their barren or cultivable lands. The remaining power generated is going to be purchased by the DISCOMs at feed in tariffs determined by respective SERC. Kusum Scheme 2019 is going to provide a stable and continuous source of income to the rural land owners. Moreover, DISCOMs will get Performance Based Incentives @ Rs. 0.40 per unit for 5 years.
- Component B – Installation of 17.50 lakh standalone solar powered agriculture pumps. Under this component, individual farmers are going to be supported to install standalone solar pumps of capacity up to 7.5 Horse Power. People are also allowed to open Solar PV having capacity in kW which is equal to the pump capacity in HP.
- Component C – Solarization of around 10 lakh grid-connected solar powered agricultural pumps. This component will be implemented on pilot mode for 1 lakh grid connected agriculture pumps. Under this component, all the individual farmers will be given support to solarise pumps of upto 7.5 HP capacity. Solar PV capacity upto 2 times of pump capacity in kW is allowed under Kusum Scheme. Farmers can then use generated energy to meet irrigation needs while the rest of the available energy would be sold to DISCOM. This scheme is going to create an avenue to provide extra income to farmers and for the states to meet their RPO targets.
Both the pilot projects for component A & B will be scale up on success of pilot run while component B would be implemented in full-fledged manner.
Kusum Yojana 2019 Implementation
In order to successfully implement component B & C of Kusum Yojana, govt. will provide central financial assistance (CFA) of 30% of benchmark cost or tender cost (whichever is lower). The state govt. will also provide 30% subsidy and the remaining 40% amount is to be borne by the farmer. For 30% investment amount by the farmer, bank finance facility will also remain available while the remaining 10% amount will have to be given by farmer from their pockets. The central govt. will provide 50% CFA for North Eastern States, Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Lakshadweep and A&N Islands.
Kusum Scheme is going to have a substantial impact on the environment as CO2 emissions would get reduced. All the 3 components in combined form would result in saving of around 27 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. Furthermore, the component B (standalone solar pumps) of Kusum Scheme will save 1.2 billion litres of diesel per annum along with associated savings in foreign exchange due to reduction of import of crude oil.
Source : http://pib.nic.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1565290