Wednesday, October 15, 2014: A new announcement by Gujarat government says that 1000 farmers will receive solar powered water pumps in order to reduce use of traditional power and electricity for irrigation. This move by the state government will also reduce financial burden on the farmers.
Under the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL), the project will get implemented, and four more distribution companies will also be a part of the project including Daxin Gujarat Vij Company Ltd, Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd, Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Ltd and Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Ltd. Tenders will be issued soon to purchase the water pumps which will be of 3 to 5 horse power and will cost Rs 0.6 million per unit. As told by GUVNL’s chief engineer (technical) YD Brahmbhatt to PTI, 1000 pumps will cost a total of Rs 600 million.
He also said that the main target is to reduce burden on the power plants and also motivate farmers to work with solar powered pumps for regular irrigation tasks. A recent notification by state energy and petrochemicals department adds that solar pumps’ necessity is increasing as power consumption for agricultural purpose increases financial burden on the government too. Brahmbhatt said further that farmers will have to pay a nominal price too and the pumps will be given only to those people which have applied for electricity connection till March 31, 2014. These water pumps are expected to function for 20 years. The pumps will work on stand alone ‘Home Grid’ system, which makes them independent of the regular electricity supply, as explained by Brahmbhatt.
