Evaluate the role of distributed solar (PM Surya Ghar, KUSUM) in making citizens and farmers stakeholders in the energy transition.

Distributed solar moves power generation from distant solar parks to rooftops and farms. It turns passive consumers into "prosumers", people who both use and sell power. PM Surya Ghar (launched Feb 2024) aims at rooftop solar for 1 crore homes, while PM-KUSUM solarises farm pumps and small plants on farm land [1]. Both have made households stakeholders, but they have done less to turn farmers into power producers.

Positives: how distributed solar creates stakeholders

• Household prosumers: More than 65 lakh households have joined PM Surya Ghar. One study finds bills fall by about 76%, and households earn from surplus power sold to the grid [1].
• Farmers as 'Urjadata': PM-KUSUM has reached more than 20 lakh beneficiaries [2]. Solar pumps cut diesel use and irrigation costs.
• Domestic industry: Rooftop demand adds to the market for Indian-made modules. Module capacity grew from ~2 GW to 200+ GW in about a decade [1].
• Land and grid benefits: Power produced close to where it is used needs no land acquisition. The PM has now called for solar on vacant farm land and field boundaries [1].

Negatives: where stakeholdership falls short

• Farmers as generators lag: KUSUM Component-A (grid-connected plants of up to 2 MW on farmers' land) had 89.45 MW installed against a 10,000 MW target by Feb 2023. About 2.09 lakh pumps had been solarised under the other components [3].
• Design had to be loosened: The penalty for producing less power than promised was removed [4], and the scheme was extended to March 2026 [3]. This suggests the original terms put developers off.
• Dependence on DISCOMs: Net-metering and power purchase rely on state electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs). Even at utility scale, 43,942 MW of auctioned capacity had no buyer contract as of Sep 2025 [5].
• Who gets left out: Households without suitable roofs and farmers who lack land titles or credit get little benefit.

Verdict

Distributed solar has made crores of households direct participants in India's clean-energy shift, and pumps have reached farmers widely. For farmers as power producers, though, results are still only partial. The way forward is to pair KUSUM plants with assured DISCOM purchase, and to offer group models through FPOs (farmer producer organisations) and cooperatives backed by cheap credit. A people-owned transition of this kind supports SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and India's NDC commitments.