govinfoadmin
The Government of Karnataka has finally launched much awaited and appreciated Surya Raitha Scheme. Under the scheme farmers in the state can use solar powered pump sets in their farms and sell the excess electricity generated to the government. Government is planning to replace existing irrigation IP farm pumps across the state in-order to
- save electricity generated through conventional sources
- promote the use of solar energy
- to provide uninterrupted power supply to the farmers during the day at least
- to produce excess electricity and
- to increase the farmers earnings
Surya Raitha Scheme is launched on 19th January 2018 in the Kanakapura village in Karnataka on pilot basis and government is working on replacing 310 IP pumps sets with solar powered pump sets. The scheme was originally launched in 2014 with the mission to provide day time power to the farmers in the state.
What is Surya Raitha Scheme?
A grid connected solar powered irrigation pump sets under small PV power plant on Net metering basis. Under the scheme farmers needs to replace their existing farm pumps with solar powered pumps. They can sell the excess electricity generated to the government and earn nearly Rs. 50,000 yearly.
Solar energy is one of the alternate source of clean energy and available in abundance. Under the scheme government will provide 90% subsidy on the pumps. Government will repurchase the excess power at the rate of Rs. 9.56 per unit if the farmer has not taken the subsidy else it will be purchased at the rate of Rs. 7.20 per unit. The consumption and production of the electricity will be noted by the BESCOM every month where as the payment will be made every six months.
The Surya Raitha Scheme is financed by merging various subsidies for farmers and interest-free soft loans from BESCOM (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company).
Eligibility for Surya Raitha Scheme:
- Applicable to the farmers in the Karnataka
- Application to the IP pump sets of 10HP capacity which requires solar generating capacity of 10kWp
Benefits of Surya Raitha Scheme:
- Uninterrupted free power supply for the farmers during the day time
- Alternate source of revenue for the farmers upto Rs. 50,000 yearly
- Less wastage of water since all the water needs are taken during day and farmers don’t need to keep their pumps on during night
- Conservation of electricity generated via conventional sources which can be used for other purposes
For more details:
- Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd: http://kredlinfo.in/
- Surya Raitha Scheme notification: http://kredlinfo.in/scrollfiles/Surya%20raitha%20eng.pdf
