PM-KUSUM’s next phase to get dedicated agrivoltaics component: Pralhad Joshi

The latest market report highlights that The next phase of the government’s flagship PM-KUSUM scheme will include a dedicated component for agrivoltaics, allowing farmers to grow crops while generating solar power on the same land, Union minister for new and renewable energy Pralhad Joshi stated on Wednesday.

“The next phase of PM-KUSUM will carry a dedicated component for agrivoltaics,” Joshi stated while addressing a curtain-raiser event ahead of the 7th Agrivoltaics World Conference 2026 in New Delhi.

The proposed model will focus on small and marginal farmers, farmer producer organisations (FPOs), cooperatives and panchayats, while ensuring that ownership of the land stays with farmers, Joshi stated.

Agrivoltaics involves installing solar panels above agricultural land while allowing cultivation to continue underneath. The government sees the model as a way to create an additional and more stable source of income for farmers, whose earnings can otherwise be affected by monsoon conditions and fluctuations in crop prices.

“A farmer can earn three streams of income from the same acre,” Joshi stated, referring to income from crops, electricity sold to distribution firms and savings on diesel.

PM-KUSUM, or Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan, was rolled out in 2019 to reduce diesel dependence in agriculture, provide energy and water security to farmers, and gain their incomes through decentralised renewable energy.

The scheme was originally structured around three components: setting up 10,000 MW of decentralised grid-connected solar plants on farmers’ land; installing 14 lakh standalone solar agriculture pumps; and solarising 35 lakh existing grid-connected agricultural pumps, including through feeder-level solarisation. The government subsequently boosted the combined target for solar pumps under Components B and C to 49 lakh, while the overall solar capacity target was set at 34.8 GW by March 2026, with central financial backing of Rs 34,422 crore.

Implementation, that stated, has progressed unevenly. As of December 2025, 9.75 lakh standalone pumps had been installed under Component B and 12.02 lakh pumps had been solarised under Component C, while Component A had 720.91 MW installed. The scheme had benefited 21.77 lakh farmers by then.

Joshi stated around 29 lakh agricultural pumps have now been solarised under PM-KUSUM.

The minister stated agrivoltaics could allow India to address its land constraints while supporting farm incomes, noting that more than 85% of Indian farmers are small and marginal farmers cultivating less than two hectares. The government is additionally pushing research to determine the most suitable combinations of crops, panel height, spacing and solar configurations for different regions. At a research centre in Pune, 17 solar configurations are at present being tested across 30 crops, Joshi stated.