Evaluate the role of decentralised solar power schemes like PM-KUSUM in enhancing farmer income and energy security.

Launched in 2019 by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, PM-KUSUM seeks to convert the farmer from a subsidised consumer of power into a producer of it. Its record shows real income and energy-security gains, though delivery remains uneven against ambitious targets.

Design: three routes to decentralised solar

• Component-A: farmer-owned ground/stilt-mounted plants up to 2 MW; Component-B: 14 lakh standalone solar pumps; Component-C: solarisation of 35 lakh grid-connected pumps, including feeder-level solarisation [1].
• Combined target of about 34,800 MW by March 2026 with central financial support of ₹34,422 crore [1].

Gains in farmer income

• Component-A allows sale of surplus power or land lease, creating a second income stream independent of crop prices and monsoon risk [1].
• Solar pumps displace diesel, cutting recurring irrigation input costs; over 2.95 lakh standalone off-grid pumps have been installed [2].
• 4,11,222 farmers had benefited as on 30.06.2024 [3].

Gains in energy security

• Assured daytime irrigation power reduces dependence on erratic grid supply and imported diesel, while expanding clean energy access and lowering costs for farmers [4].
• Feeder-level solarisation shifts the agricultural load onto cheap local solar, easing DISCOM cross-subsidy stress [1].

Limitations

• Installed capacity remains modest against the 34,800 MW goal, with progress skewed towards pumps rather than farmer-owned plants [1][2].
• Component-A demands land, upfront capital and net-metering/PPA clearances — effectively excluding tenants and many small and marginal farmers.
• Zero marginal-cost pumping can deepen groundwater over-extraction unless tied to micro-irrigation and surplus buy-back.
• Execution rests on states and DISCOMs, producing uneven rollout.

On balance, PM-KUSUM has meaningfully advanced both objectives, but as a supplementary rather than transformative income source so far. Scaling the next phase around FPOs, cooperatives and panchayats, with assured buy-back and groundwater safeguards, would let decentralised solar serve farm incomes and India's non-fossil energy goals together.