Informing a USD 21.8 billion investment for scaling a solar irrigation model in India

About one-third of the energy in India comes from renewable sources. Now the government plans to increase this percentage with an investment of USD 21.8 billion in the solarization of farms. This large scale investment was made possible through the piloting and evaluation of the SPICE model by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and CCAFS in collaboration with Tata Trust and the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE).

As per the scheme, the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy plans to provide 2.75 million solar pumps: 1.75 million off-grid pumps and 1 million connected to the grid. Some farms with existing pumps will also get solarized. In addition to providing sustainable energy, the investment will enable farmers to be independent of the grid and creates additional income as farmers can sell surplus energy to local power distribution companies.