Govt plans to run tubewells on solar power

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 20

Shelling out Rs 8,000 crore annually for subsidy on electricity supplied to agriculture sector, the state government will soon shift all 6.25 lakh tubewells in the state on solar power. The state government is planning to execute this plan under a Central government scheme, Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahaabhiyan (KUSUM), a programme to harness solar power for rural India.

The scheme has already proved a success in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat and now, the Haryana government is planning to prepare a detailed project report to be sent to the Centre after study of the programme in these states.

The Tribune has learnt that a high level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has already been held to discuss finer details of the plan.

Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu and senior officers of the Finance, Power and New and Renewable Energy Departments were present in the meeting.

Abhimanyu confirmed that the government was seriously considering shifting tubewells to solar energy.

“After the launch of Ujjwal Discoms Assurance Yojna (UDAY), the losses of power nigams have come down and they have started generating profits. The government wants that subsidy being given for providing subsidised electricity to tubewells could be stopped and farmers are made self-sufficient,” the minister added.

Sources said that the government has constituted a committee of senior officers to study the implementation of KUSUM in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat and prepare a detailed project report.

In the meetings held so far, it has come out that solar plant for a tubewell connection of 5 HP is likely to cost Rs 3.40 lakh, while the cost will rise accordingly for tubewells of 10 and 15 HP.

Besides the Central grant under KUSUM, the government plans to spend funds from its own coffer on the implementation of the scheme so that the financial burden on the farmers could be minimised.

For this, the government plans to loan from the Green Fund of the NABARD.

The solar plants for running tubewells would be attached to the power grid, so that the excessive power produced by farmers could be utilised.

Normally, a solar plant attached to the power grid can both import or export power, but, the sources said that the government is planning to provide export (supply of power from farmer to the grid) facility for the fear that the import facility can be misused for pilferage of electricity.

Presently, nearly 6.25 lakh tubewells across the state get power for merely 10 paisa per unit, which is much lesser than the normal domestic tariff or the charges for which the electricity costs the government.