Agartala, May 12: In a significant move towards doubling farmers’ income and promoting sustainable agriculture, the Electricity Department of Tripura, in collaboration with the Tripura Renewable Energy Development Agency, has successfully installed 8,364 solar-powered irrigation pumps.
Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Ratan Lal Nath announced that these installations are part of the Prime Minister’s Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme. Additionally, work is ongoing for 2,531 more solar pumps across the state.
So far, 8,364 farmers have benefited from the PM-KUSUM scheme, with expectations that an additional 2,531 farmers will gain from the ongoing installations.
On Monday, the minister visited the solar-powered agricultural irrigation system established under the PM-KUSUM project in the village of Satadubia in West Tripura district. He also toured the solar-powered tea garden village of Mohanpur and interacted with local farmers.
The minister noted that farmers are pleased with the free solar energy and irrigation water. Each solar pump unit costs approximately ₹300,000, of which farmers only need to pay ₹15,000, with the government covering the remaining expenses.
“To date, a total of 8,364 farmers have benefited from this scheme, bringing 41,820 kani (0.33 to 0.4 acres) of land under irrigation. The entire cost is borne by the Tripura government. Tripura has secured the top position in the Northeast under the PM-KUSUM scheme. I have personally visited the projects, inspected them, and interacted with farmers. Our goal is even bigger, and work is continuously progressing,” the minister stated.
Initially, the state government aimed to install 10,895 solar irrigation pumps under this scheme, intending to bring 54,475 kani of agricultural land under irrigation.
According to the minister, the installation of 8,364 pumps has already been completed, covering 41,820 kani of land and directly benefiting 8,364 farmers. Furthermore, the ongoing installation of 2,531 additional pumps is expected to irrigate an extra 12,655 kani of land and benefit 2,531 more farmers.
Deependra Singh Chundawat is a Senior Sub-Editor at Udaipur Kiran, specializing in a wide range of technology topics including mobile phones, applications, gaming, PCs, and wearables. Along with covering the latest tech news, he also creates engaging web stories. Passionate about emerging technologies, he stays up to date with the newest trends and enjoys reading and writing about the latest mobile launches and digital innovations.
