Maharashtra Introduces Land Lease Model for Solar-Powered Agriculture

By Saur News Bureau/ Updated On Thu, Apr 20th, 2023

Highlights :

Towards this, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that a rent worth Rs 1.25 lakh will be provided annually to farmers who lease out land to the government for a period of 30 years for the establishment of solar feeders. The rent amount will rise by three per cent yearly.

Maharashtra Introduces Land Lease Model for Solar-Powered Agriculture

Maharashtra Government has revealed that it is looking to encourage agriculture driven by solar power across the state. This is with an aim to make sure that the farmers get power supply without any hinderances during daytime since rural areas are prone to power outages during the day. Towards this, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that a rent worth Rs 1.25 lakh will be provided annually to farmers who lease out land to the government for a period of 30 years for the establishment of solar feeders. The rent amount will rise by three per cent yearly. Farmers will hold the land title.

Further, following the completion of 30 years of lease agreement, the farmer will get the land back. As per the Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra is the first state that has set sights on transitioning to to solar-powered agriculture. “It has introduced the land lease model which will help farmers to earn sustained income and also retain its land title,” he added.

The government is striving towards bringing down the cost of electricity generation with solar power in agriculture. “At present, the rate of electricity per unit is Rs 7. When we have solar energy it will cost to Rs 3.30 per unit,” Fadnavis said. The subsidized power for farmers, which is pegged at Rs 1.50 per unit will be continued. Maharashtra government, however, has bear the financial burden of Rs 10,000 crore. Cross-subsidy by levying higher power supply tariffs from industries and domestic users helps recover this cost partly.

As per Fadnavis, the government will have the right to private land within 5 km of agriculture feeders for solar power. However, for government land, it will be up to 10 km around agriculture feeders.

Currently, coal dominates the power supply in the agricultural sector.

Maharashtra is giving an impetus to solar-powered agriculture. It has been making a slew of announcements towards this goal. A few months ago, the Deputy CM of the state said it was set to provide 5 Lakh solar pumps under PM-KUSUM.