Lucknow: In an effort to increase the income of the farmers in the state and make them more self-reliant, the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) on the directions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has entered into a power purchase agreement with private developers (farmers) in 6 districts on 7 megawatt (MW) solar power generation projects as part of the Kusum Yojana.
Under this, farmers will set up solar power generation centers on their barren or uncultivable land with the assistance of various banks. The government will provide subsidies for this. Selling the electricity produced by this solar power generation center to the government or private power companies will enable farmers to boost their income.
Chairman of the UPPCL M Devraj said on Saturday solar power generation center of 1.5 MW will be set up in Vilaspur village of Bijnor, 0.5 MW (500 kW) in Mauhari of Hathras, 1 MW in Devgaon of Mahoba, 1 MW in Khuksis of Jalaun, 1 MW in Bariarpur of Deoria and a 2 MW solar power generation center will be set up in Parseni village of Lucknow.
It may be noted that this scheme will provide farmers with two different types of benefits. They will first be able to use solar-powered irrigation pumps in place of the outdated diesel irrigation pumps. Secondly, by selling the electricity produced by the solar plant installed at the farm to the power providers, they can make an additional Rs 80,000 each year.
Under this scheme, the government gives 90 percent of the total cost of the solar pump as subsidy to the farmers. In accordance with the plan, farmers can install solar panels on their barren lands to generate electricity from solar energy and make money each month by selling it to various government and non-government power firms.
Under the ‘Kusum scheme’, 5 acres of land is required to set up a 1 MW solar plant. That is, one acre of land generates 0.2 megawatts of electricity. Through this scheme, farmers can also eliminate the problems related to electricity in their area. The pumps given under this scheme will be installed in place of agricultural pumps that run on electricity and diesel.
