MNRE Secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi Urges Farmers To Adopt Solar Pumps In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Santosh Kumar Sarangi, on Saturday, urged farmers to take advantage of solar agriculture pump schemes and encourage others to adopt them for the country’s development.

Sarangi interacted with beneficiaries of the PM Kusum B and Solar Agriculture Pump on Demand schemes in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. State OBC Welfare Minister Atul Save, Joint Secretary JVN Subramanyam, Divisional Commissioner G Sreekanth, District Collector Vinay Gauda GC, and senior officials of MSEDCL were present during the visit.

During the interaction, Sarangi asked farmers about the changes they experienced after installing solar pumps. Beneficiaries said their crop patterns had improved and farm production had increased significantly.

Farmers said they earlier spent around Rs 700 on diesel to operate pumps. After installing solar pumps, this expense was reduced, which helped increase their income.

Farmer Sachin Joshi, who is also an electrical engineer, said the solar agriculture pump improved productivity on his farm. Earlier, he could grow only one crop in a year through dry farming. After getting the pump, he started cultivating multiple crops along with vegetables and fruits.

Sarangi said the entire process, from application to installation, is online and transparent, as it involves minimal human interference. He said the scheme has received a strong response from farmers.

He also appealed to beneficiaries whose standard of living has improved to motivate other farmers to join the scheme.

Later, Sarangi visited a 6-megawatt solar energy project at Varkhedi village in Sillod taluka. The project currently provides daytime electricity supply to around 3,148 farmers.