Solar energy to farmers’ pump sets soon: Sunil Kumar

Karnataka will soon start providing farmers’ pump sets with solar power, which Energy Minister V Sunil Kumar says, will reduce the subsidy burden on his department.

During a freewheeling chat with reporters, Kumar said, “The government will provide solar power to agricultural pump sets under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan.”

“We will provide solar power to the feeders so that farmers can use them in their pump sets,” Kumar said.

“We hope this will reduce the subsidy outgo,” he added.

Kumar lamented that the Energy Department pays Rs 15,000 crore in subsidies.

“We need to find a way to tackle this. When the subsidy was first introduced, there were 10,000 farmers. Now, there are 30 lakh farmers,” he said. “Going forward, the government will focus on green energy,” the minister said.

“By 2030, we want our installed capacity to go up from 30,000 MW to 40,000 MW. Right now, renewable (green) energy accounts for 50 per cent of our capacity. We want this to go up to 75 per cent,” Kumar said.

Kumar, who is also the Kannada & Culture minister, said a decision has been taken to streamline grants to various cultural institutions.

“Earlier, there was no discipline. Cultural organisations were given Rs 50-75 lakh indiscriminately. We’ve decided that organisations that have received government grants for five years in a row will be given second preference so that new institutions can get funded. Also, any organisation conducting cultural events must take our permission first,” Kumar said.