Discuss the agronomic, economic and institutional constraints on scaling agrivoltaics in India.

Agrivoltaics (AgriPV) means growing crops and generating solar power on the same plot. A GIS-based screening found 47.35 million ha of "restricted cropland" suitable for it. Yet only 36 projects (37.54 MW) were running by August 2025 [1]. Agronomic, economic and institutional constraints explain this gap.

Agronomic constraints

• Narrow crop basket: the suitable crops are mainly fruits, vegetables, spices and medicinal plants, not the staples that dominate cropland [1].
• Thin yield evidence: the claimed 10–20% yield gain comes from a conference [2]. The Estimates Committee asked for a study of the impact on crops and farm income before large-scale subsidies [3].
• No minimum-yield rule: without one, a plot can become a solar plant with a few token crops underneath.
• Groundwater risk: cheap daytime power can encourage over-pumping. The existing safeguard bars new solar pumps only in CGWB-notified dark zones [4].

Economic constraints

• Higher capital cost: stilt-mounted systems cost more than ground-mounted plants. The Estimates Committee compared the two at the Issapur site [5].
• Upfront burden on farmers: under Component-A there is no central financial assistance, and farmers must pay to convert agricultural land to non-agricultural use [3].
• Credit and tender delays slowed progress from the start [6].
• Uncertain buyer: the second income depends on DISCOM power-purchase agreements, and DISCOMs are financially stressed [7].

Institutional constraints

• Weak delivery record: Component-A had installed 667.31 MW of its 10,000 MW target by November 2025 [1].
• Big jump in scale: the planned 10 GW Agri-PV component of PM-KUSUM 2.0 [8] is about 266 times the current installed base.
• Fragmented governance: land classification falls under state revenue laws, schemes run through State Implementing Agencies, and there is no national legal definition or design standard.

Agrivoltaics is held back less by technology than by a mismatch between the crops, the costs and the institutions involved. PM-KUSUM 2.0 should do four things:

• write a legal definition of AgriPV with a minimum-yield rule;
• waive land conversion for certified plots;
• make DISCOMs buy the power;
• link pumping to groundwater rules.

Measured, crop-wise trial data should come before scale-up. That way, the food–energy land conflict can serve both SDG 2 and SDG 7.