Solar on every farm: Will this help state utilities bridge the revenue gap?

Most farmers in India get subsidised power, which is priced at a fraction of the cost of supply

A solar panel can be a good friend to a specific kind of shade-loving crop. A typical “agrovoltaic” or “agroPV” installation involves solar panels at a height of a few meters from the ground sheltering crops underneath. The same piece of land thus produces crops, and power. What panel and what crops gel well together is currently a subject of global interest.

India has embarked on its own version of “solarising” agricultural farms, and this could possibly change the dynamics of the whole power sector. Its ambitious programme for solar farms involves multi-gigawatt installations via the PM-kusum scheme, which is targeting