The Lift Line
“The question is no longer whether India can harvest the sun. It is whether India’s farmers can own a meaningful share of that harvest.”
Why This Editorial Matters for Your Exam
Ashok Gulati, Distinguished Professor, and Subhodeep Basu, Research Fellow, both at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), combine three GS3 topics in one argument: farm incomes, power sector finances and the energy transition. The column’s data on scheme design and subsidies are directly usable in answers on agriculture, energy and discoms.
GS Paper 3: Infrastructure (energy); farm subsidies; issues of agricultural pricing and incomes; conservation of land and resources; government schemes.
Background and Context
India’s solar build-out, as the column describes it.
| Segment | Share of installed solar | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| Utility-scale (ground-mounted parks) | about 74 per cent | Large developers on degraded or government land, including the Khavda renewable energy park in Kutch, Gujarat, planned for about 30 GW of solar and wind |
| Rooftop | about 20 per cent | PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana |
| Off-grid and hybrid | about 6 per cent | Solar pumps, mini-grids |
Installed solar capacity was 2.82 GW just before 2014 and 168.04 GW by August 2026, according to the authors, making India the third-largest solar market after China and the United States.
The two schemes compared.
| Feature | PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (2024) | PM-KUSUM (2019) |
|---|---|---|
| Target group | Households (rooftop) | Farmers |
| Outlay or target | Outlay Rs 75,021 crore; 1 crore households | Three components (below) |
| Central support | Rs 30,000 per kW for the first 2 kW and Rs 18,000 for the third; Rs 78,000 maximum | Capital support for pumps (Components B and C); none for Component A plants |
| Other finance | A World Bank loan of USD 820 million, the column says | No equivalent window, the authors note |
PM-KUSUM’s three components.
| Component | What it supports |
|---|---|
| A | Decentralised grid-connected solar or other renewable plants of up to 2 MW on farmers’ land; power sold to discoms |
| B | Standalone off-grid solar pumps |
| C | Solarisation of existing grid-connected pumps, including feeder-level solarisation |
The subsidy problem. Agriculture consumes about 2,60,000 GWh of electricity a year. The authors cite a CAG report putting the average cost of supply at about Rs 8.5 per kWh against realisation of about Rs 1 per kWh from farm consumers, with agriculture accounting for close to 85 per cent of a tariff subsidy bill of about Rs 2.35 lakh crore a year.
The Analysis
1. The boom has had a narrow base. Utility-scale parks were the fastest, cheapest way to add capacity, and rooftop subsidies spread it to households. The farmer, the biggest recipient of power subsidies, was left largely as a consumer.
2. Component A is the missing link. It already lets farmers host plants of up to 2 MW. Without capital support, few small farmers can raise the money, so the model tends to become land leasing to developers.
3. Agrivoltaics resolves the land conflict. Panels about 11 feet high, spaced for cultivation, let land produce food and power. The authors would ban ground-mounted solar on cultivable land and promote agri-PV instead.
4. The subsidy can be recycled. A feed-in tariff of about Rs 4.5 per kWh, roughly half the cost of rural supply, would make projects viable while costing discoms less than supplying the same power from afar.
5. A cooperative model. Drawing on Operation Flood, the authors propose solar cooperatives (“PM Surya Khet Kranti”) backed by catalytic finance, and even solar plants at gaushalas. They add that future projects should plan for storage and local grids as AI data centres push up demand.
Data and Institutions Vault
Prelims-grade facts:
Schemes:
- PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan): 2019, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
- PM-KUSUM components: A (plants up to 2 MW), B (standalone pumps), C (solarising grid-connected pumps).
- PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (2024): outlay Rs 75,021 crore, 1 crore households, up to 300 units free a month.
- Rooftop subsidy: Rs 30,000/kW up to 2 kW, Rs 18,000 for the third kW, capped at Rs 78,000.
The column’s numbers:
- Solar capacity: 2.82 GW (pre-2014) to 168.04 GW (August 2026).
- ICRIER pilot: 600 kW under PM-KUSUM-A in Rajasthan; income potential from about Rs 40,000 to nearly Rs 4 lakh per acre.
- Proposed feed-in tariff: about Rs 4.5 per kWh.
Prelims, the traps:
- Khavda in Kutch is a hybrid renewable energy park (solar and wind), not a solar-only park.
- Operation Flood (from 1970, NDDB) was financed in its first phase by the sale of donated dairy commodities; World Bank loans supported its later phases.
⚠️ Watch the trap: under PM-KUSUM, capital subsidy goes to pumps (Components B and C); Component A plants earn through power sales.
The Debate
For the authors’ view. Agri-PV turns a fiscal drain into an income source, spreads the energy transition to villages and keeps land in cultivation. Pilots show large income gains.
The complications. Elevated structures cost more than ground-mounted solar; yields of many crops drop under shade; distribution companies may not absorb or pay for decentralised power reliably; and without aggregation, small farmers may end up as lessors rather than owners.
The balanced verdict. Target concessional finance and aggregation (cooperatives, FPOs) at small farmers, match crops to partial shade, strengthen feeders and storage, and enforce payment discipline, so that the benefits reach cultivators and not only developers.
How to Think About This
Follow the subsidy rupee. Any energy-agriculture question gets sharper if you ask where the subsidy currently goes (below-cost farm power), who bears it (State budgets and discoms), and how a reform redirects it (paying farmers for power instead of subsidising their consumption).
Diagram-in-Words
Takeaway Box
- Problem: the solar boom is utility-scale and rooftop-led; farmers largely left out.
- Gap: PM-KUSUM Component A (up to 2 MW) has no capital subsidy.
- Solution: agri-PV with priority-sector credit and a feed-in tariff near Rs 4.5/kWh.
- Evidence: a 600 kW ICRIER pilot in Rajasthan showing a tenfold income potential.
- Model: solar cooperatives on the lines of Operation Flood.
Sources: The Indian Express, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, PM Surya Ghar portal
Source: Solar as the Farmer's Third Crop: Agrivoltaics, PM-KUSUM and the Power Subsidy Trap — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Editorial Analysis
