KUSUM wilts under poor planning: Multiple repackaging impacts its success

Multiple repackaging has impacted the success of this four-year-old flagship scheme to de-dieselise agriculture through solar-powered pump sets

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech in 2018 hailed the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme as a saviour for the farmers. Announced in the Budget the same year, Modi said with this solar farming scheme, “farmers can now earn money from farming and at the same time earn by selling the extra solar power generated at their farms”.

The goal was to de-dieselise the farm sector by replacing diesel pumps with so­larised ones. It would also reduce the burden on state-owned discoms that have to supply subsidised electricity to the agriculture sector.