Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Ltd (RRECL) has reported awarded 722 MW to 623 farmers under the Centre’s PM Kusum scheme.
The scheme is aimed at generating income for farmers from their unfertile or semi-barren land.
With this Rajasthan became the first state in the country to conduct a successful bidding and allot more capacity than the target given by MNRE.
Farmers under the PM KUSUM scheme can set up plants with capacity ranging from 0.5 to 2 megawatt and the power will be bought by discoms at Rs 3.14 per unit which is much higher than the rates discovered through auctions.
Under the scheme famer with no money to invest , can also lease out the land to private developers and receive annual income.
Ajitabh Sharma, chairman of RRECL and principal secretary energy department said speaking to a piblicaton said , “Farmers having barren or semi-fertile land can get a steady income for 25 years from this scheme. Since the plants would be located within 5 km of a sub-station, the transmission losses would be minimal and cost of power will be cheaper. Rajasthan is the first state in the country to implement the scheme successfully.”
MNRE gives subsidy of 40 paise per unit to the government Under the scheme,, effectively bringing down rates for discoms to Rs 2.74 per unit.
Besides the benefit from rates, this also promotes decentralized generation which will generate employment at village level. Similarly, it allows the MSMEs in the sector to develop projects as they often fail to qualify for bigger tenders due to higher bidding standards.