Critically evaluate the groundwater safeguard mechanisms built into PM-KUSUM. Suggest reforms for PM-KUSUM 2.0.

PM-KUSUM, run by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, targets 34,800 MW of solar capacity with ₹34,422 crore of central support, including 14 lakh standalone pumps and solarisation of 35 lakh grid-connected pumps [1]. Its groundwater safeguards are real but largely siting-based, and therefore only partially effective.

Safeguards that work

• Dark-zone restriction: in CGWB-notified areas no fresh connections are allowed; only existing diesel pumps may be replaced and existing electric pumps solarised [3].
• Micro-irrigation linkage: preference to farmers using or covered by drip/sprinkler schemes, tying solarisation to demand-side saving [3].
• Buy-back incentive: under individual pump solarisation, purchase of surplus solar power lets a farmer earn by not pumping — converting conservation into income [2].
• De-dieselisation co-benefit: replacement of diesel pumps cuts emissions without expanding the pump fleet.

Critical gaps

• Safeguards regulate where pumps go, not how much water is drawn — there is no volumetric metering or extraction cap.
• Standalone Component-B pumps carry near-zero marginal running cost; sunlight, not the electricity bill, becomes the only limit to pumping.
• Under feeder-level solarisation there is no provision for selling surplus power, so the water-saving incentive is markedly weaker than in individual solarisation [2].
• Dark-zone notification is periodic and coarse, while groundwater is a State subject — enforcement and blocklevel updating vary widely.
• Micro-irrigation remains largely a preference criterion, rarely verified after installation.

Reforms for PM-KUSUM 2.0

• Tilt subsidy weight toward grid-connected solarisation with assured buy-back, extending remunerative surplus purchase to feeder-level models too.
• Make metering and a benchmarked extraction entitlement a precondition, with payment for water saved.
• Converge sanctions with Atal Bhujal Yojana aquifer plans and mandatory micro-irrigation, audited post-installation.
• Move from static dark-zone lists to dynamic, aquifer-level dynamic assessment.

Solar irrigation is not inherently extractive; the outcome follows the incentive design. If PM-KUSUM 2.0 prices water even as it frees energy, India can advance SDG-7 and SDG-6 together rather than trading one for the other.