Government nod for KUSUM, 40GW solar rooftop scheme

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved two schemes for promotion of solar power — one for the agriculture sector and the other for rooftops.

The long-pending KUSUM scheme (Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan) was approved by the CCEA.

The scheme consists of three components: 1. Setting up 10 GW grid-connected renewable power plants, each of 500KW to 2MW in rural areas; 2. Installation of 1.75 million standalone off-grid solar water pumps to fulfill irrigation needs of farmers not connected to the grid; and 3. Solarisation of existing 1 million grid-connected agriculture pumps to make farmers independent of the grid supply and also sell surplus power to distribution companies and get extra income.

With all three, the scheme aims to add solar capacity of 25,750 MW by 2022.

The total central financial support provided under the scheme would be Rs 34,422 crore, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while addressing the media after the meeting of the Union Cabinet.