Power sector: Big announcements but no extra funding; half-baked schemes

Centre's flagship scheme, KUSUM, which aims to provide solar-run irrigation pumps to farmers, has been allotted Rs 1,000 cr, or barely 0.01% of the total estimated outlay

The ambitious announcements for the power and renewable energy sector by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman seem to have very low financial backing. Clean energy, which is part of the welfare package of the BJP-ruled government under ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ got less than the expected allocation. 

The Centre’s flagship scheme, Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM), which aims to provide solar-run irrigation pumps to farmers, has been allotted Rs 1,000 crore, or barely 0.01 per cent of the total estimated outlay. KUSUM was first announced in the 2018-19 union budget and has an estimated outlay of