PM-KUSUM: Solar Power for Farms

Imagine a farmer's irrigation pump. Traditionally, this pump either runs on an expensive, unreliable diesel generator, or on subsidised but often unpredictable grid electricity, meaning power from the regular public electricity network, which can cut out at unhelpful times. Now imagine replacing that pump with one powered entirely by sunlight, with lower running costs, and no dependence on diesel prices or power cuts.

PM-KUSUM, short for Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan, exists to make exactly this shift happen across the country.

The scheme has multiple parts covering different farm energy needs. One part replaces diesel or grid-powered irrigation pumps with standalone solar pumps. Another, larger part supports solar power plants built on farmland, letting farmers sell any extra electricity they generate back to the grid. This turns farmland into a genuine second source of income, beyond just the crops grown on it.

Progress as of April 2026 shows real movement, but it is not yet complete. 10,90,815 standalone solar pumps had been installed, against a target of 13,07,190. Under the larger solar power plant component, 1,202.28 MW of capacity had been installed, against a considerably more ambitious target of 10,000 MW sanctioned. This shows the solar pump part of the scheme has moved much further toward its goal than the larger power plant part has.

This connects to India's broader push for renewable energy, covered under Power elsewhere on this site. PM-KUSUM is agriculture's specific contribution to expanding India's solar power capacity. It turns farmland, which was previously used purely to grow crops, into land that produces both food and electricity at once. This is a genuinely useful model for a country like India, where land is limited but both farm output and clean energy capacity need to keep growing, rather than competing for the same land.