Saur Krishi Ajivika Yojna plans to use Rajasthan's abundant land resources by allowing farmers and landowners to lease out their barren or underutilized land for solar project development on a predetermined lease basis.
Distribution companies (DISCOMs) in the state have created a dedicated online portal where farmers can register their land to be leased out for solar projects. Project developers can also register on the portal to reach out to registered farmers.
The portal will serve as a conduit for interested farmers and developers to collaborate to secure land for a solar power plant on a renewable energy service company (RESCO) mode, preferably within a 5 km radius of identified 33/11 kV substations.
DISCOMs identified 33/11 kV substations with primarily agricultural consumers on their 11 kV feeders and assessed the substation-specific solar capacity to be installed nearby. The portal will list identified substations with capacities and other important information.
Interested parties can use the portal to apply to register their land. The field office will verify the applications, along with a joint survey of the land and other credentials submitted with the application. After preparing a broad connectivity diagram from the land to the substation, the DISCOMs will issue tenders to select RESCO developers for establishing solar projects. The chosen developers may be eligible for central financial assistance (CFA) from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). For 25 years, DISCOMs will purchase power at the discovered levelized tariff.
Developers must pay the agreed-upon lease rent amount to the landowner during the project installation and commissioning phase, which lasts 9 months from the contract award. The applicable land lease rent will be paid directly to the landowner by DISCOMs. After the solar project is completed, they will recoup the money from the developer's monthly energy payments.
Rajasthan topped the list, installing 44,340 solar pumps out of the 76,210 approved, followed by Haryana, which installed 36,793 out of the 39,326 approved. Punjab came in third place on the list, with 10,131 solar pumps installed out of 12,000 approved. MNRE issued a guideline in May of this year removing the requirement to submit a performance bank guarantee for the solarization of agricultural feeders under Component C.
