With support from several government programs, more than 250,000 Indian farmers had adopted solar irrigation pumps by 2018. In order to understand the experience of these pioneering farmers, GIZ and KPMG undertook a large survey across four states – Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Tamilnadu. We spoke with Eshita Gupta (KPMG) and Mandvi Singh (formerly with GIZ) to share the results of this survey. While the survey covered several aspects of farmers’ experiences, we were particularly interested to understand whether farmers are able to effectively utilize the solar assets and what explains any differences across survey states. The discussion offers useful insights for Government of India’s ambitious PM-KUSUM initiative that aims to support the deployment of more than 3.5 million solar irrigation pumps in India.

INSIGHTS FROM SOLAR PUMP SURVEY