Medieval Agrovoltaics Under PM KUSUM 2.0: MNRE Secretary | Today’s news
New Delhi: The Center plans to promote the installation of agro-voltaic capacity in the country under the second phase of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyaan (PM KUSUM), a flagship solar irrigation scheme, said Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Secretary, Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
Agrivoltaics, also known as agrisolar, is the practice of using a piece of land for both agricultural production and solar energy production. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the AgriVoltaics 2026 world conference, they said the government plans to add about 5 GW of agrovoltaic capacity within about three years.
“It will be part of PM KUSUM 2.0. The current component A can be replaced with this (agrovoltaics). The additional cost of setting up agrovoltaics is around 25%. So the effort would be to neutralize these costs so that the tariff is at par with ground-based solar systems,” the secretary said.
Under the ongoing regime under component A, the government supports the establishment of small solar power plants with a capacity of up to 2 MW. The aim is to create a cumulative capacity of 10 GW through these power plants.
Mint he had earlier said that the union cabinet is expected to consider the proposal for what it is worth ₹51,000 crore for the extension PM-KUSUM scheme, with the government proposing a shift to grid-level solar power and battery storage as it seeks to reduce agriculture’s dependence on the conventional electricity grid.
The proposal contains approx ₹35,000 crore for new projects and ₹16,000 crore to cover existing liabilities.
Increasing revenue
Addressing the seventh annual global conference, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said the policy aims to increase farmers’ incomes as agro-voltaic allows for combining agricultural cultivation and solar energy on the same surfaces.
Estimates suggest that around 30% of India’s 160 million hectares of agricultural land is suitable for installing agro-voltaic projects, the minister said, noting that agro-voltaic has taken off in many parts of the world as it also addresses issues related to land availability.
The minister said about four acres of land is required to install 1 MW of solar capacity and said that 85% of all farmers in India are small and marginal who cannot save land by stopping farming.
Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh together account for nearly half of India’s estimated agro-voltaic potential, he said.
Noting that the global agricultural market has crossed 18.4 gigawatts of installed capacity, he said India can also learn from international experiences. On Wednesday, the government also published draft policy measures to support agrovoltaics.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the conference, the German ambassador to India and Bhutan, Jasper Wieck, assured support for joint research at pilot agrovoltaic sites. “Here we will test how agriculture and solar energy production can be economically and sustainably combined on the same land,” he said.
