Over 2,500 farmers near Mangaluru want to install solar-powered IP sets in MESCOM limits

PM-KUSUM was introduced to encourage use of renewable energy by farmers for irrigating their farms. Under the scheme, both the Central and State governments would pay 30% each as subsidy while the beneficiary farmer is supposed to bear the balance 40% cost of the installation.

The Mangalore Electricity Supply Company has received over 2,500 applications from farmers for energising their irrigation pump sets through solar power under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme till August 20.

“This comes at a time when the Karnataka government improved its share of subsidy from 30% to 50% for irrigation installations located beyond 500 metres from energy network,” said MESCOM Managing Director D. Padmavathi. MESCOM is yet to service new connections as the received applications are under various stages of processing by the power supply company.

PM-KUSUM was introduced to encourage use of renewable energy by farmers for irrigating their farms. Under the scheme, both the Central and State governments would pay 30% each as subsidy while the beneficiary farmer is supposed to bear the balance 40% cost of the installation.

The Karnataka government, however, decided to aggressively encourage renewable energy use for irrigation pump sets and decided to enhance its share of subsidy to 50%. The beneficiary farmer would bear only 20% of the total cost in case the proposed installation was beyond 500 metres from the nearest energy network. Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited, has been the executing agency for PM-KUSUM, Ms. Padmavathi said.

Ms. Padmavathi said that with farmers switching over to solar energy for their irrigation sets, their dependence on conventional energy would reduce. Farmers would get solar panels, submersible or surface DC pump sets, mounting structure, panel board, pipes and cable under the scheme. The suppliers would maintain the solar pump sets installed by them in farm lands for five years. Consequently, farmers would get uninterrupted power supply to run their irrigation pump sets during day time, she said.

She encouraged farmers to avail the facility by registering their requirements through https://souramitra.com by providing details, including Aadhaar, RTC and bank account. They may call helpline 080-22202100 to get any issue resolved.

The MD said MESCOM has identified 118 acres of government land and 70 acres of private land to produce up to 40 MW energy under PM-KUSUM C scheme wherein feeders would be energised through solar power. The power so produced would be provided to farmers in the network during day time, she said. The identified lands were located close to power sub-stations, she added.