PM-KUSUM 2.0 to focus on agri-photovoltaics and solar pump upgrades for food and energy security

Key facts

• PM-KUSUM 2.0, announced by MNRE Secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi, will integrate learnings from the first scheme to achieve a more sustainable blend of food and energy security.
• Component A (ground-mounted solar) largely took off only in Rajasthan because barren agricultural land was scarce elsewhere, so Kusum 2.0 will focus on agri-photovoltaics without compromising farm production.
• For Component B solar pumps, used only 120-150 days a year, a universal solar pump controller (USPC) will be integrated to use surplus electricity for purposes like threshers or harvesters.
• Individual Pump Solarisation under Component C has limited demand because states provide subsidised or free power, while feeder-level solarisation will continue voluntarily with battery energy storage systems (BESS).
• The offshore wind tender is expected within two months with capacity likely below 1 GW, supported by viability gap funding, government-built transmission infrastructure, a power purchase tie-up with the Tamil Nadu government, and VO Chidambaranar (Tuticorin) Port as the nodal port.
• India's peak electricity requirement is about 270 GW, and adding 50-60 GW of capacity a year is sufficient within the resource adequacy framework, with solar PV module manufacturing capacity already exceeding demand.