IEP Chandigarh, October 01
Punjab New and Renewable Energy Sources Minister Mr. Aman Arora has sought Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for solarisation of agriculture pump sets up to 15 horse power (HP) capacity on the pattern of North East and Hilly states so that maximum pumps can be solarised in the State. This assistance is given under PM-KUSUM Scheme.In a letter written to Mr. RK Singh, Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy (GoI), Punjab Cabinet Minister raised the issue of keeping Punjab out from the ambit of the Scheme. He said that the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has made a provision for providing CFA to the farmers of North East and Hilly States for their pumps up to 15HP capacity on 01.08.2022. But, this facility is available only for up to 7.5HP agri-pumps in Punjab.“Punjab was the pioneer state in the green revolution which is rightly known as the food bowl of India. Thus, farmers of the state also need hand-holding of the Centre Government and they also deserve to avail the benefits of the scheme. Punjab is predominantly an agrarian State, and around 14 lakh electric motor pumps and 1.50 lakh diesel pump sets are being utilized for irrigation in the State”, said Mr. Aman Arora. The Minister said that the capacity of majority pumps ranges from 10HP to 15HP in the state. The cost to solarise these pumps would be very high and out of the reach of the farmers, hence in order to bring the cost of these pumps in the ambit of the farmers, the CFA is required to be provided for higher capacity pumps.In the letter, he mentioned that the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been providing 30% CFA for solarisation of agriculture pump sets of capacity up to 7.5HP under Component-B & C of PM-KUSUM Scheme. The MNRE has allocated targets for solarisation of 50,000 off grid solar pumps under Component-B and 1.25 lakh electric motor pump sets under Component-C to the State of Punjab, for which the Central Financial Assistance for agriculture pumps up to 15 HP should be extended for Punjab as well, he added.
