When India talks about clean farm power, the electric tractor gets most of the attention, and with good reason. The tractor is the backbone of Indian mechanisation, and manufacturers are investing seriously in electric models. But the tractor is one machine in a much larger fleet. If the goal is to lower input costs, raise farm incomes and cut waste, the next phase of electrification should run on two tracks. One is the tractor programme that industry is already building.
The shift away from farm diesel is well underway. The Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell’s (PPAC) all-India study of sectoral demand for 2020-21 found that agriculture accounted for about 4.7 per cent of retail diesel sales, down from roughly 14 per cent in its 2011-12 study. Within that 4.7 per cent, tractors made up 2.6 per cent, other implements 1.5 per cent and diesel pump sets just 0.6 per cent.
