Solar pump scheme helps 29,000 Rajasthan farmers in a year

As many as 29,000 farmers have benefited in Rajasthan in the last one year from the solar pump scheme aimed at providing clean energy to farmers by installing solar-powered pumps.

 

Under the scheme, solar-powered pumps with capacities of 3, 5, 7.5, and 10 horsepower (HP) can be installed, but the subsidy is payable only up to 7.5 HP capacity, an official said.

 

In the past five years, the state government has installed over 131,000 solar pumps. The initiative targets areas where farmers lack access to electricity and have been dependent on diesel-powered pumps or other alternatives for irrigation.

 

Kishanchand Jat, a farmer from a village in Barmer district, installed a 5 HP solar pump about a year ago under the scheme. “I am not dependent on electricity any more. It helps save costs and boosts productivity,” said Jat, who is one among 29,000 farmers who have benefited after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in the state in 2023.

 

The government offers a 60 per cent subsidy to farmers on installing solar pumps in their farms, and those coming under the scheduled tribes/scheduled castes get an additional subsidy of ~45,000.

 

Farmers who own at least 0.4 hectares are eligible for the scheme that was introduced by the previous Ashok Gehlot government.

 

“Those who have constructed water storage structures, pits, farm ponds, and water tanks of prescribed capacity for irrigation on their land are also eligible,” the official said. However, a drip and or mini sprinkler or sprinkler plant must be used for irrigation alongside the solar pumps.