Shakti Pumps wins Rs 150-crore order under PM-KUSUM scheme

Shakti Pumps on Monday announced securing a Rs 149.71-crore order under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme.

The latest order is the first under the component C of the government scheme, Shakti Pumps said in a statement.

"Shakti Pumps announces its inaugural commercial order under the PM-KUSUM scheme component-C from Ajmer Viduyt Vitran Nigam Limited for the total worth of Rs 149.71 crore," the water pump company said in a statement.

The project involves replacing inefficient electric pump sets with BLDC (brushless DC) solar pump sets, where the pump set will run on power generated through solar and surplus electricity can be sent to the grid.

This benefits farmers across India by enhancing irrigation capabilities, reducing reliance on traditional energy, and providing the opportunity to earn from surplus power sales to discoms, the company said.

Shakti Pumps Chairman Dinesh Patidar said, "This revolutionary action changes 'Annadata' (food providers) into 'Urja data' (energy providers). Discoms would cover its pump set cost of Rs 10 lakh in 5 years by saving up to Rs 2 lakh in yearly energy bills, while farmers may earn up to Rs 50,000 per year and up to Rs 2.5 lakh in 5 years by selling excess power to discoms."

The scheme gives the farmers more control over their own lives, improves irrigation capacity, and lessens dependency on conventional energy sources, resulting in energy security for farmers across India, he added.

Launched in 2019, PM-KUSUM aims to add solar capacity of 30,800 MW by 2022 with total central financial support of Rs 34,422 crore, including service charges to the implementing agencies.
In February, the Centre extended PM-KUSUM scheme till March 2026 as its implementation was significantly affected due to the Covid pandemic.

The scheme consists of three components -- Component A is for installation of 10,000 MW of solar capacity by installing small power plants of capacity up to 2 MW and Component B to install 20 lakh standalone solar-powered agriculture pumps.

Component C is for solarisation of 15 lakh grid-connected agriculture pumps.