Gujrat Government's Suryashakti Kisan Yojana: Details Features Aim Purpose

Suryashakti Kisan Yojana (SKY) scheme also aims at empowering farmers of state to generate their own electricity using solar energy and help to double their income.

Under it, farmers of the state having existing electricity connection will be given solar panels as per their load requirements. It also envisions setting up of separate feeders for agricultural solar energy consumption.

The important features and highlights of this scheme are as follows:-

Solar Panels Purchase Cost – Out of the total cost, farmers will only have to pay 5%. 60% would be given as subsidy amount while 35% would be given as low-interest rate loans for 7 years. The loan repayment time is fixed at 7 years.

Selling Additional Power – Farmers can sell the additional power to state government. For first 7 years, govt. will purchase power at a cost of Rs. 7 per unit while govt. will purchase the power at Rs. 3.5 per unit for next 18 years.

This scheme will provide a huge relief to the farmers and will also generate additional income. Farmers will be able to recover the cost of investment within the next 8 to 18 months.

Till date, farmers are getting electricity for 8 hours for irrigation purpose. After the successful implementation of this project, farmers will get electricity upto 12 hours. Moreover, it will also resolve the concerns of farmers of getting power supply only at night.

Extra Earnings for the Govt. – Currently, farmers in Gujarat pay around 50 paise / unit for electricity supply for irrigation purposes. The state government spends about Rs. 4,500 – 5,000 crore per year as subsidy on electricity for irrigation purpose. This subsidy cost can be brought down by proper implementation of SKY Scheme.