The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on Wednesday informed the Lok Sabha that Jammu and Kashmir has installed 3 thousand 601 solar agriculture pumps under the Pradhan Mantri-Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme till November 30 of the ongoing fiscal.
The ministry said that J&K was sanctioned with 5 thousand standalone off-grid solar pumps under Component-B of the scheme, of which 3 thousand 601 have been installed-making it one of the top Union Territories to show steady uptake in solar-based irrigation support for farmers.
The data states that no solar power plants or feeder-level solarisation projects have been commissioned under Component A or Component C in the UT so far. PM-KUSUM aims to reduce farmers’ dependence on diesel-based irrigation and provide an assured daytime power supply through renewable energy.
The ministry further stated that Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of 50 percent of the benchmark cost is provided to beneficiaries in J&K-higher than the national norm of 30 percent due to its classification among special-category regions.
