‘MSMEs alone cannot meet India’s demand for solar pumps’

NEW DELHI: Dinesh Patidar, chairman and MD at Shakti Pumps, a 39-year-old company that manufactures submersible pumps for a range of uses talks to TOI about the roadmap for installing solar pumps for agriculture and the challenges in its roll-out. Excerpts:
Tell us about the roll out of solar pumps in the country.
Installing solar agricultural pumps across the country is a dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PM-KUSUM Yojana is a very well-thought of project. It has already got the cabinet approval and is now being implemented through tendering in phases.
One of the aspects of this scheme is that farmer income will go up with the use of solar energy. This is happening wherever such pumps are being installed and farmers are getting independent.
Diesel pumps are unviable for our farmers today and electric pumps have limitations. For the second year, the government target is some four lakh agricultural solar pumps. Besides supporting a farmer’s income, these pumps also support the DISCOM losses and benefit the environment.