Uttar Pradesh Leading in PM Kusum Yojana

• 16 Apr 2025

Why in News?  

The Union Minister of Consumer Affairs praised Uttar Pradesh's leading role in effective implementation of the PM Kusum Yojana and PM Surya Ghar Yojana. 

 Key Points  

• PM-Kusum: 
  • About:  
    • PM-KUSUM is a flagship scheme launched by the Government of India in the year 2019 with the primary objective of transforming the agriculture sector by promoting solar energy solutions . 
    • It works on a demand-driven approach. Capacities are allocated based on the demands received from various states and Union Territories (UTs) . 
    • It aims to achieve a significant solar power capacity addition of 30.8 GW by March 31, 2026 . 
  • Objective:  
    • The scheme aims to reduce dependence on diesel for irrigation by encouraging the use of solar powered pumps and other renewable energy sources. 
      • It aims to increase farmers' income by reducing irrigation costs through the use of solar pumps and enabling them to sell surplus solar energy to the grid. 
    • By providing access to solar pumps and promoting solar-based community irrigation projects , the scheme aims to enhance water and energy security for farmers. 
    • The scheme aims to reduce environmental pollution caused by conventional energy sources by adopting clean and renewable solar energy. 
  • Ingredients:  
    • Component-A : Installation of 10,000 MW decentralized ground/stilt mounted solar power plants on barren/fallow/pasture/marshy/cultivable lands of farmers . 
    • Component-B : Installation of 20 lakh stand-alone solar pumps in off-grid areas. 
    • Component-C : Solarisation of 15 lakh grid connected agricultural pumps : Individual pump solarisation and feeder level solarisation. 
• PM-Surya Ghar Free Electricity Scheme: 
  • About: 
    • It is a central scheme to promote the adoption of solar rooftop systems by providing adequate financial subsidy and ensuring ease of installation. 
  • Aim: It aims to provide free electric power to one crore households in India who wish to install power units with rooftop solar panels.  
    • Families will be able to get 300 units of electricity free every month. 
  • Implementing Agencies: The scheme will be implemented at two levels . 
    • National level: Managed by National Programme Implementation Agency (NPIA). 
    • State level: Managed by State Implementation Agencies (SIA), which are the distribution utilities (DISCOMs) or electricity/energy departments of the respective states or union territories.  
  • Role of DISCOMs : As SIA, DISCOMs are responsible for facilitating various measures towards promoting rooftop solar power transition , including ensuring availability of net meters , timely inspections and commissioning of installations. 
  • Subsidy Structure: The scheme provides subsidy to defray the cost of solar rooftop system installation. The subsidy is limited to a maximum capacity of 3 kW . 
    • 60% subsidy for solar systems up to 2 kW capacity . 
    • 40% subsidy for solar systems between 2kW to 3kW capacity .