1. Solar energy is being explored as an
alternative to conventional grid electricity for
powering irrigation. Interventions that utilize
solar energy for irrigation can contribute to
renewable energy generation goals, stabilize
demand of grid electricity, and provide
electricity to unelectrified regions while
reducing long-term infrastructure costs. In
India, solar energy is also viewed as a
potentially more reliable energy source than
the electrical grid, which tends to experience
frequent power cuts and poor daytime
supply due to excessive demand and load
shedding. With a solar-powered irrigation
system, a farmer may have access to reliable
Executive Summary: Solar systems for irrigation may provide reliable, renewable energy for
pumping water. In 2015, the Maharashtra Department of Energy initiated a 7,540 solar-powered
pump pilot scheme. This report analyzes the economics and feasibility of the Maharashtra
programme, and extrapolates these findings to other models of solar systems for irrigation.
Solar Irrigation Innovations in India:
The Way Forward?
By: Fernanda Diaz de la Vega, Raunak Mittal, Swati Narnaulia & Kelsey Reid
companies and rapidly depleting
groundwater aquifers.
Solar Energy for Irrigation
Water, Food, & Energy
Nexus
The International Innovation Corps (IIC) is a year-long fellowship hosted by the Harris School of Public Policy, University of
Chicago in collaboration with USAID that places Indian and UChicago alumni professionals into Indian public sector
institutions for developing scalable solutions to social problems. This team of IIC fellows, supported by Tata Trusts,
partnered with the Energy Policy Institute at Chicago - India (EPIC). The IIC - EPIC team worked closely with the
Department of Energy, Government of Maharashtra in exploring, researching, and proposing innovative solutions to some
of the long-standing energy problems in the state. The team concentrated the majority of their efforts on the Solar Water
Pump Pilot Programme, for which the tender was released in January 2015 and implementation began in May 2016 after
an administrative delay. Therefore, the majority of the team’s analysis was conducted pre-implementation.
Footnotes:
1
IDFC Foundation. (2013). Indian Development Rural Report. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.
2
Kulkarni, H., Shah, M., & P.S.VijayShankar. (2015). Shaping
the contours of groundwater governance in India. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 172-192.
3
According to MahaDiscom the agricultural subsidy is around
1,000 Crores rupees per year.
India is an agrarian economy and irrigation
consumes 80% of the country’s extracted
groundwater resources.
1
After independence,
in its stride for food security, India instituted
the “Green Revolution” which demanded
intensive irrigation for high crop yields. As a
result of inexpensive and evolving
technologies to pump water from the ground
and highly subsidised electricity for
agriculture, groundwater irrigation increased
exponentially. By 2015, there were more than
30 million pump systems across the country.
2
This has led to a vicious nexus between
energy, water, and food production, which in
turn causes a significant power subsidy
3
burden for the state-owned power

2. renewable, affordable energy during working
hours that can power irrigation of their land.
While many factors contribute to the
potential of solar systems for irrigation, solar
system for irrigation programme pilots must
be evaluated further to understand the
economic and environmental viability of
these interventions.
districts across the state. The pumps are
offered with a 95% subsidy (with funding
from the state and the central government
NABARD initiative), thus reducing costs for
farmers. A majority of the pumps are
sanctioned for severely drought stricken
areas of eastern Maharashtra. In order to
become a beneficiary of the programme,
farmers must: i) have a landholding less than
5 acres; ii) have applied for an agricultural
electrical connection; and iii) have access to
a well.!
Maharashtra’s Solar Water
Pump Scheme
Approach to Analysis
In January 2015, the Maharashtra
Department of Energy and subsidiary
Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution
Company Limited (MSEDCL) announced
plans for pilot scheme of 7,540 off-grid solar
water pumps of irrigation installed in 14
The following analysis is based on secondary
research, economic modeling, key informant
interviews with industry leaders and
A solar panel powering a pump in Jaipur district under Rajasthan’s solar water pump scheme. Photo: Swati Narnaulia
Solar-Powered Irrigation
Schemes in India
Karnataka, 20141
• 250 pumps
• on-grid, one feeder
• 90% subsidy
Rajasthan, 20102
• 15,000 pumps by 2014, 1 Lakh by
2018
• off-grid
• 80% subsidy
• 3 HP pump systems paired with
micro-irrigation
Footnotes:
1
Shah, Tushaar, Verma, Shilp and Neha Durga. (2014). “Karnataka’s Smart, New Solar Pump Policy for Irrigation.” Economic & Political Weekly.
2
Goyal,
Dinesh Kumar. (2013). Rajasthan Solar Water Pump Programme. Akshay Urja.
2

3. A farmer in Amravati district, Maharashtra explains his irrigation practices during a farmer meeting. Photo: Kelsey Reid
researchers, and surveys of farmers. Per-
farmer costs to the government were
calculated for three interventions (solar
water pump, energy efficient pump, and
standard electrical pump) based on site
conditions such as landholding, crop,
groundwater, etc. The findings are also
informed by surveys of farmers in
Maharashtra’s Akola, Amravati, Palghar, and
Yavatmal districts, and solar pump users in
Rajasthan’s Jaipur district. These farmers
provided insights on irrigation practices and
the pilot scheme.
The Maharashtra programme was analysed
for three assumptions of what makes solar
systems for irrigation programmes viable
and sustainable:
• The intervention should minimize
costs for the government relative to
alternative interventions,
• The programme should have positive
effects on rural livelihoods; and
• The intervention should enforce
disciplined use of groundwater.
Findings
The intervention should minimize costs
for the government relative to
alternative interventions.
The cost-effectiveness of interventions varies
based on site conditions. In terms of costs to
the government, it is less costly to provide a
solar water pump to farmers who do not
have agricultural electrical connections than
to extend the electrical grid to them. These
savings are augmented when cost
calculations take into account how having a
pump may change farmers’ behaviour in
terms of cropping patterns. With a reliable
source of energy to pump water, a farmer
may decide to increase their cropping cycles
or begin to harvest a more water intensive
crop. Programme beneficiaries lack electrical
connections; therefore the scheme provides a
less costly alternative to extending the grid
to these farmers.
The programme should have positive
effects on rural livelihoods.
The programme has the potential to
positively impact farmers’ incomes. Solar
water pumps are a reliable source of energy
for irrigation, and more consistent access to
water could result in higher yields and
increased incomes. Furthermore, farmers will
have greater access to water using a solar-
powered pump than their access if they rely
on rainwater or have to pay the high
3

4. !
Case Study: Farmers in Yavatmal
The following is a case study of costs for the government of energy and irrigation
interventions. The interventions evaluated include an electrical pump with full
electricity subsidy, an energy efficient pump with full electricity subsidy, and a solar-
power water pump subsidized as they are under the Maharashtra pilot programme.
The first case is a farmer in Yavatmal district
with 3 acres of land who cultivates cotton
using a 5 HP electrical pump. Assuming the
farmer uses his pump for 5 hours a day
during 5 months of the year, it is most cost-
effective for the government to replace his
standard electrical pump with an energy
efficient pump. Figure 1 compares the net
present value (NPV) for ten years of running
the pump at this frequency for each
potential intervention.
Figure 1. Cost to the government, farmer
with agricultural electricity connection
Another farmer in Yavatmal with 4 acres of
land cultivating soya bean and irrigating
with rainwater (which provides water for 3
months a year) would require a 3 HP pump.
The most cost-effective intervention the
government could make for this farmer
would be an energy efficient pump (Figure
2a). However, this result is driven by the fact
that soya bean is not a water-intensive crop.
Once a farmer switches from rain-fed
irrigation to a pump, he may chose to
harvest a more water-intensive crop or
plant for more than one cycle. Given such a
behavioural change, the farmer may now
need to run his pump for more than 3
months a year. To allow comparison
between this farmer and the farmer
described above, it has been assumed that
the farmer would run the pump for 5
months of the year. If this is the case, a solar
water pump is the most cost-effective
intervention. Providing an electrical pump
to a farmer with this frequency of use
would result in the government assuming
the costs of providing his subsidized
electricity (Figure 2b).
Figure 2a. Cost to the government, farmer
without an agricultural electricity
connection
Source: Economic Model
Source: Economic Model
Source: Economic Model
Figure 2b. Cost to the government, farmer
without an agricultural electricity
connection; taking into account estimated
behavioural changes crops and cropping
patterns
4

5. Farmer Apprehensions
Farmers surveyed in Akola, Amravati,
Palghar, and Yavatmal districts expressed
the following concerns about the
Maharashtra pilot. These factors negatively
affect beneficiary buy-in and programme
participation.
• Some farmers lack reliable and
consistent access to water that
could be used for pumping.
• They do not have a technology bias
and have a strong preference for
whichever pump system they can
receive sooner, whether electrical or
solar.
• The economic burden of the down
payment would be lesser if
beneficiaries could pay in
installments.
• Farmers rely heavily on community
organizations, producer companies,
and farmer cooperatives for market
linkages, technical training, and
other interventions that improve
livelihoods.
• They are unfamiliar with the
technology and are unsure of its
efficiency, particularly on cloudy
days, without having seen a pump in
operation.
Programme
Recommendations
In order to align with the three factors for a
successful programme defined in the section
above and to address the concerns
expressed by the farmers there are actions
that MSEDCL can take without having to
modify the tender.
To increase buy-in and familiarize farmers
with the technology, the pump suppliers may:
• Use communication methods that
are easy and inexpensive to
disseminate;
• Identify local anchor farmers with
solar pumps who can highlight
benefits of the system
• Coordinate with interventions under
linked government programs, i.e.
Dhadak Sinchan Yojna, to ensure
access to water; and
operational costs of a diesel pump. With
greater access to water throughout the year,
farmers may be able to harvest more than
one crop each year. However, unless farmers
are properly linked to viable and larger
markets the scheme may not positively affect
rural livelihoods.
The intervention should enforce
disciplined use of groundwater.
The pilot does not have adequate structures
and incentives in place to ensure efficient
and disciplined use of groundwater.
Uninterrupted access to electricity for six to
eight hours a day may increase the rate of
groundwater extraction and surpass the rate
of recharge. One example of how to enforce
this can be found on the case of Rajasthan,
where micro-irrigation technologies were a
requirement for beneficiaries because they
reduce water consumption.
• Forge partnerships with existing
community organisations to align the
intervention with other rural
livelihood initiatives.
The case of the Maharashtra pilot offers
lessons about solar systems across India.
Though this scheme only entails off-grid
systems under individual ownership, the
analysis of costs to government and
perspectives from farmers provide valuable
insights relevant to designing and
5

6. Way Forward for Solar
Systems for Irrigation
While the Maharashtra pilot will provide
some insights on the viability of solar
systems for irrigation, it also incites policy
questions that will need to be further
explored through evaluations of other
systems with various models of ownership
Alternative Models
Co-author Raunak Mittal notes solar panel system specifications in Jaipur district, Rajasthan. Photo: Kelsey Reid
implementing a variety of solar system for
irrigation interventions:
Engage existing community
organisations to enhance information
dissemination: Farmer cooperatives and
producer companies have regular contact
with farmers, understand farmers’ needs and
behaviors, and are a resource for market
linkages and technologies. They can educate
farmers about the scheme and provide
support on utilizing the systems effectively.
Consider making mandatory micro-
irrigation technologies and water
harvesting schemes: Micro-irrigation
technologies lower water consumption by
efficiently distributing water directly to crops.
Water harvesting programmes can offset
reliance on groundwater. Requiring farmers
to employ these interventions may aid in
efforts to reduce the rate of groundwater
depletion.
Financial and technical models of solar
systems for irrigation other than those
implemented in the Maharashtra pilot may
be better suited to address the
aforementioned criteria for a viable
intervention. One alternative is on-grid solar
systems, which allow farmers to sell excess
units of electricity (beyond what they use for
pumping) generated by the solar panels, to
the electricity distribution company to be
utilized on the conventional grid. This model
may introduce discipline into groundwater
use because farmers may value the income
they can earn for excess energy units more
than they value excess water. In terms of
costs to government, on-grid systems are
most appropriate for electrified regions and
areas where the costs to extended the line
are minimal. The energy sold back to the grid
would counter the costs of the solar system,
which may enable a lower subsidy and
farmer contribution.
6

7. and technology.
It remains unclear what economic and
technical mechanisms can be instituted in
these programmes to ensure proper use of
groundwater. Off-grid and individually owned
solar-powered pumps do not institute a
marginal cost for excessive water extraction,
and could contribute to increased depletion
of an already limited groundwater supply.
Further research is needed on the conditions
best suited for on-grid solar systems,
particularly given how these schemes may
incentivize efficient use of groundwater.
As solar systems for irrigation proceed, it will
also be necessary to track whether they
adequately reduce the subsidy burden and
financial distress of the state distribution
Farmers in Akola district read the application form for Maharashtra’s solar-powered pump pilot
scheme.
Photo: Kelsey Reid
companies. The economics of these systems
for both the government and farmers must
be investigated for both on-grid and off-grid
systems and various ownership models.
Determining appropriate financial
contributions from farmers and energy unit
purchasing rates (in on-grid schemes) will be
essential to the success and sustainability of
these interventions.
Finally, more should be done to understand
how community organizations and local
government institutions could help to
introduce these new technologies to farmers.
Situating these interventions in broader
efforts to positively affect rural livelihoods
may augment the social impact and
economic gains for programme beneficiaries.
7