Soon, ‘reliable’ solar power supply for farmer pumpsets

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will soon inaugurate a solar substation built under the Kusum-C scheme. Scheduled for June 11, 2025, the initiative aims to ensure a reliable daytime power supply for farmers’ agricultural pump sets, Energy Minister K.J. George has said.

At a curtain-raiser press conference for the launch of the Kusum-C scheme, George announced that the Chief Minister would inaugurate the initiative at 10:30 am, the venue being Netaji Stadium in Gauribidanur.

The event will also see participation of Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Prahlad Joshi, Union Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, Shripad Yesso Naik, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Chikkaballapura District in-charge Minister Dr. M.C. Sudhakar, Gauribidanur MLA Puttaswami Gowda, and others.

The Kusum-C scheme aims to provide farmers with reliable daytime electricity by installing solar units near agricultural electricity feeders.

These units will generate power locally, which will then be supplied to agricultural pump sets through the feeders. This localized generation ensures the delivery of high-quality power, the Minister noted.

In Gauribidanur taluk’s Thondebhavi Hobli, a 20 MW solar unit has been established across approximately 60 acres in the villages of Hanumenahalli and Charakamattenahalli.

This is the largest solar installation under the Kusum-C scheme in Karnataka to date, which is why Gauribidanur was chosen for the scheme’s official launch.

The land for the project has been leased from private owners for a period of 25 years.

Under the Kusum-C scheme, the Central government provides a subsidy of ₹ 1.05 crore for generating 1 megawatt of solar power, which significantly reduces the cost of establishment of the Solar Power System for the developers.

The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has fixed a maximum rate of ₹3.17 per unit of electricity, ensuring affordable and reliable power supply for farmers.

“In the first phase of the Kusum-C scheme, we aim to generate 2,400 megawatts of solar electricity through the solarization of agricultural feeders. This will provide quality daytime electricity to around 6,19,000 agrarian pump sets, significantly reducing their energy costs and ensuring a reliable power supply. The construction of feeder level solarization plants with a capacity of about 200 MW has already been completed, and within the next few months, 545 MW capacity solar units across 93 locations will become operational. Our goal is to establish 2,400 MW of feeder level solarization plants by December 2025, bringing substantial benefits to our farming community,” the Minister added.

It has been decided to establish solar units near power substations where technical feasibility exists.

Private entities will set up the solar units and generate electricity, which the government will purchase and supply to the agricultural pump sets within the respective feeder’s coverage area.

Since solar power is abundantly available during the daytime, adequate electricity will be available for farmers’ agricultural pump sets during the day, he said.

 The Energy Minister also highlighted the transparency in the allocation of funds. He stated, “Four acres of land are required for the generation of one megawatt of electricity. If government land is available for establishing solar parks for feeder-level solarization, it will be provided free of charge to the Energy Department. Contractors must pay ₹25,000 annually per acre of land, which will be deposited into the District Collector’s account. The district in-charge minister, local legislators, and collectors will collaborate to allocate these funds for developing government schools, Anganwadis, and drinking water projects within the village panchayat jurisdiction of the solar park. In cases where government land is unavailable, private land will be taken on lease, and contractors will compensate landowners at ₹25,000 per acre.”