(a) whether the Government has any proposal to promote Agrivoltaics in the country as it has the second largest extent of arable land in the world;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has taken note that India should be a hotbed of Agrivoltaics; and
(d) if so, the details thereof along with the response of the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND
FARMERS WELFARE
(SHRI PARSHOTTAM RUPALA)
(a) & (b): Yes, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is implementing Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Utthan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) since 8 March 2019. The scheme supports installation of solar power plants of capacity up to 2 MW by individual farmers/cooperatives/panchayats/farmer producer organizations (FPO)/developers on barren/fallow/marshy/pasture or cultivable lands owned by farmers. Installation of total 10000 MW capacity solar power plants is targeted under the Scheme by 2022.
(c) & (d): Yes, the solar plants can be installed on stilt fashion so that the farmers can continue growing crops under the solar PV installations. Against the cumulative sanction target of 5000 MW capacity by 2020-21, total 4859 MW capacity has been sanctioned under the KUSUM scheme. Letter of Agreement for around 750 MW capacity plants have been issued by the state of Rajasthan, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
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