In what could well be the next big sop for farmers, Union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has unveiled a pilot project in home district Solapur in Maharashtra, asking farmers to exchange their existing pumps with energy-efficient monoset pumps being distributed free. While 4,475 pumps will be distributed in Solapur over the next six months, the project’s national rollout is intended to benefit two crore farmers over the next five years.

On Sunday, Shinde handed the first “replacement” monoset pump to Kakasaheb Dattatray Pujari in Brahmapuri village in Solapur. The pump, manufactured by Kirloskar Brothers Ltd at its Dewas facility in MP, costs Rs 35,000 and will replace existing pumps like Pujari’s that cost around Rs 14,000.

“The pumps are being replaced free of cost to the farmer. For this pilot, the Power Finance Corporation is giving a loan of Rs 62 crore while Rs 6 crore will come from the escrow account of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency under the Ministry of Power. The pumps, manufactured by Kirloskar, are rated ‘five star’ and will lead to huge savings in power. Once the pilot is over, the national rollout will begin. The entire cost will be covered by the power saved and we will get companies to bid for executing this project ,” Shinde told The Indian Express.

He said the Solapur initiative will give an immense fillip to his Ministry’s efforts to cut down on energy consumption by the heavily subsidised farm sector. In effect, it will showcase what can be achieved at the national level by saving Rs 25.2 crore over the following year against a capital outlay of Rs 15.66 crore in Solapur.

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