The Budget bet big on solar installations to power farm income and unveiled a ‘smart’ solution to make electricity consumer the king as well as ease financial pain of discoms. The topping came in the form of reduced corporate tax rate of 15% for new gencos (generating companies) that received the ‘manufacturing’ tag. An outlay of £2.2 billion for power and renewable energy marked a marginal increase over 2019-20, underpinning the thrust on sectoral reforms.
A three-year roadmap will see every conventional meter in the country replaced by pre-paid meters. The ground scheme will be worked out by the power ministry, an investment-based ministry, for Cabinet approval and additional funds, if needed. Power minister R K Singh reckons solar-powered pumps can reduce farming costs by a quarter and farmers can earn up to Rs 60,000 a year from selling electricity to the grid from solar projects set up on barren/fallow land allowed in the Budget.
KUSUM scheme for solarising farm irrigation has been expanded from 175,000 standalone solar-powered pumps to 20,00,000. The number of grid-connected solar pumps has been raised from 10,00,000 to 15,00,000.
N K Ranganath of smart pump manufacturer Grundfos sees KUSUM acting as a catalyst for sustainable irrigation solutions across the country. Rating agency ICRA’s Sabyasachi Majumdar sees KUSUM leading to lower subsidy dependence for discoms.
Smart meters will allow consumers to choose, through pre-paid cards, the most affordable supplier as per time of the day once multiple players enter after separation of carriage and content.
