The Indian farmer has been called “Annadata,” food provider since time immemorial, and that has become a venerable axiom. A newer fact is catching up pace with it. Increasingly, that same farmer is also becoming a power producer, and the country’s energy planners have sit up and taken notice.
Nearly one million standalone solar pumps have now been installed under the PM-KUSUM scheme, and more than 1.1 million grid-connected pumps have been solarised, adding over ten thousand megawatts of clean energy capacity. The initiative has cut diesel use, stabilised irrigation costs and opened new income streams in rural areas. Each solarised pump represents a farmer who no longer budgets for diesel, and in many cases, one who now has surplus power to sell back to the grid. This is a renaissance of sorts. I feel very gratified at this national achievement and whatever contribution my company has been able to extend towards energy independence of our farmers.
