Friday, March 07, 2014: The government has had a proactive stand towards accessing the renewable sources of energy. In a new, India has approved Rs 3 billion in subsidies for farmers. The grant is specified to help farmers install solar-powered water pumps, meant to boost agricultural yields and further reduce the expensive diesel fuel use.
According to a notice posted on the website of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the ministry will facilitate these grants, which will help install 17,500 irrigation pumping systems to 2016, funded by a carbon tax on coal. “Solar photovoltaic pumping systems can easily meet the irrigation requirements for small and marginal farmers. It will increase the cropping intensity.”
Apparently, India has 26 million ground water pumps, that are available on farms, which suffer from blackouts and volatile fuel costs. The grant will help switch these on solar power that is likely to save $ 6 billion a year, in power and diesel subsidies. The companies that are given contracts to assist the flow of subsidies are BlackRock Inc. (that is associated to SunEdison Inc. and Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd., which is Asia’s foremost irrigation-equipment maker.
The grants will cover about 30 per cent of the total project costs, while state governments of Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra, which are participating in the program, will be required to account for subsidy cover of least 15 per cent. And, the farmers will have to cover the rest of the project costs. The entire program is estimated to cost nearly around Rs 10 billion.
