PM Kusum Scheme Boosts Gujarat Farmers with Solar‑Powered Irrigation

The central government’s PM Kusum scheme is providing heavily subsidised solar‑powered irrigation pumps to farmers in Gujarat’s remote and tribal areas. Under the programme, the centre contributes 30 % of the cost and the state covers the remaining 70 %, allowing cultivators to run pumps year‑round without relying on monsoon rains, diesel or electricity bills.

Farmers such as Bharatbhai Vaghmare of Dang district and Rajeshbhai Vasa of Tapi district report that the solar pumps enable continuous irrigation, three crops per year and higher incomes from rice, pulses, vegetables and other produce. Gujarat’s Energy and Petrochemicals Minister Rishikesh Patel noted that the scheme has led to the commissioning of 256 solar power plants with a combined capacity of 695 MW and the installation of about 22,787 solar pumps, benefitting roughly 2.97 million pump users.

The initiative is described as turning solar technology into a source of increased harvests, income and improved livelihoods for the state’s most marginalized farming communities.