Bengaluru, July 22 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has chaired a review meeting on the progress of the solar agriculture pumps scheme, KUSUM-B, and directed officials to expedite its implementation, officials said on Tuesday.
KUSUM-B is Component B of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) scheme, which focuses on the installation of 14 lakh stand-alone solar agriculture pumps for irrigation.
Under the scheme, solar-powered agricultural pump sets are being promoted with a 30 per cent subsidy offered by the Central government, 50 per cent given by the State government, and 20 per cent borne by the beneficiary farmers.
The chief minister, in the meeting held on Monday, noted that approval has been given for the installation of 40,000 pump sets and instructed officials to take necessary steps for their implementation, an official statement said.
An additional 25,000 farmers have applied under the scheme, and the State government is set to spend Rs 752 crore for the same. Out of 4.5 lakh unauthorised irrigation pump (IP) connections, two lakh have already been regularized, the statement said.
The meeting also discussed prioritising the remaining unauthorised IP sets under the KUSUM-B scheme.
The government is also planning to provide farmers with independent electricity infrastructure, and the Energy Department will supply transformers as required.
In the 2024-25 financial year, Rs 12,785 crore was allocated for irrigation pump sets, of which Rs 11,720 crore has been released till February 2025, the statement said, adding the allocation for the 2025-26 fiscal stands at Rs 16,021 crore.