E-Paper
Now U.P. farmers can install solar plants on their land
U.P. govt nod to solar power generation centres on barren or uncultivable land in six districts; UPPCL signs power purchase agreement with farmers
With a view to giving a boost to farmers’ income in the state and making them more self-reliant in their power needs, the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPCL) has entered into a power purchase agreement with farmers (private developers) in six districts on 7 MW solar power generation projects as part of the Kusum Yojana, said a government statement on Saturday.
Under the scheme, farmers will set up solar power generation centres on their barren or uncultivable farmland with the assistance of various banks. Additionally, the government will provide subsidies for this. Selling the electricity produced by these solar power generation centres to the government or private power companies will enable farmers to boost their income, said the statement.
To start with, the solar power generation centres will be set up in Bijnor, Hathras, Mahoba, Jalaun, Deoria and Lucknow districts. Chairman, UPPCL, M Devraj was quoted as saying in the statement that a solar power generation centre of 1.5 MW will be set up in Vilaspur village of Bijnor, 0.5 MW (500 kW) in Mauhari village of Hathras, one MW in Devgaon village of Mahoba, one MW in Khuksis village of Jalaun, one MW in Bariyarpur village of Deoria and a 2 MW solar power generation centre will be set up in Parseni village of Lucknow.
The benefits to the farmers are dual. They will first be able to use solar-powered irrigation pumps in place of diesel irrigation pumps. Secondly, by selling the electricity produced by the solar plants to the power providers, they can make an additional ₹80,000 each year.
Under this scheme, the government gives 90% of the total cost of the solar pump as a subsidy to the farmers. Under the plan, farmers can install solar panels on their barren lands to generate electricity from solar energy and make money each month by selling it to various government and non-government power firms.
Under the Kusum scheme, 5 acres of land is required to set up a one-megawatt solar plant. That is, one acre of land generates 0.2 megawatts of electricity. Through this scheme, farmers can also eliminate the problems related to electricity in their areas. The pumps given under this scheme will be installed in place of agricultural pumps that run on electricity and diesel.
