Skip to main content

Gujarat govt "not interested" in turning farmers into solar power producers despite "successful" pilot project

Dr Tushaar Shah (left) with Gujarat official Sujit Gulati
A climate change experiment for promoting alternative sources of energy in Anand district, begun about two-and-a-half years ago by a world-renowned institute, meant for promoting groundwater solar pumps as a means for turning ordinary farmers into electricity producers, appears to have no takers in the Gujarat government.
Well-informed sources have told Counterview that though two top state officials have personally examined the experiment, carried out under the direction of well-known water expert Dr Tushaar Shah of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), things have refused to move.”
The experiment involves using solar pumps instead of diesel or electricity pumps for using groundwater for irrigation, but with a rider: The state government should connect the pumps with the state electricity grid and buy up whatever electricity is left unused after the farmers are done with irrigation.
Talking with Counterview on the sidelines of a media conference in Ahmedabad for promoting the experiment, Dr Shah explained, “If power is bought over by the state power distribution company, it would incentivize farmers to stop overexploiting groundwater for irrigation, even as turning them into solar power producers, helping climate change.”
Asked why the Gujarat government didn’t seem interested in the proposal, Dr Shah said, “Additional chief secretary, energy and petrochemicals, Sujit Gulati, personally visited the village Dhundi, where the experiment began two-and-a-half years ago, and found it very useful. We hope that our proposal will be accepted.”
The second official, who visited the village to oversee the experiment, and found it “interesting”, was ex-rural development commissioner Jayanthi Ravi. Interestingly, the Gujarat chief minister in an IWMI note has been quoted as praising the experiment, with the suggestion that a new solar policy would clinch the issue.
Jayanthi Ravi with Dr Tushaar Shah
However, despite the visit of the two officials, and Dr Shah’s talks at different levels, including the highest, a file is said to have been floated for going ahead with it for entire Gujarat, but, said sources, “the matter is stuck in the corridors of power.”
Talking about advantages of the IWMI proposal, Dr Shah said, “Currently, under a scheme, the state government provides 95% capital subsidy to the farmers willing use groundwater with the help of solar pumps, but for this they must give up their applications for electricity connections.”
He added, “2.5 lakh such applications for power connection lying with the state government, and if these farmers begin using solar pumps it would mean massive overexploitation of groundwater. After all, solar pumps allow groundwater pumping with no or little cost.”
The senior expert said, “Our proposal provides an alternative. We think there is no need, at the present stage, to withdraw the application for electricity connection. Instead, the farmers should be given 50% capital subsidy for installing the solar pump, but with the guarantee that the state government would buy up the surplus power at an agreed price.”
Underlining that this would “discourage” groundwater overexploitation, which otherwise would not be the case, Dr Shah said, “If taken up on a mass scale, it would save thermal power and groundwater, both. It’s a win-win proposal for farmers, the government and is in favour of climate change .”
Farmers' solar power generation cooperative members, Dhundi
As a result of state “indifference”, the IWMI, which is headquartered in Colombo and has an office in Anand, and works on water policy issues across the world, has been able to “tap” just nine farmers in Dhundi village over the last two-and-a-half years.
Under an agreement with the state government’s distribution company, Madhya Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (MGUVNL), these farmers sell their extra power at Rs 4.63 per unit, and as there is virtually no cost for producing power, it’s all their profit. The farmers sell about 60% of power they produce and their incomes have doubled.
“The IWMI subsidized solar pumps to these farmers. It also negotiated with MGUVNL to buy up extra power”, Dr Shah said, adding, “Now, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has agreed to have a similar experiment in village Mujkuva, also in Anand district. Fourteen farmers have agreed to buy up solar pumps at a subsidy that the IWMI would provide. Negotiations are on with MUGNL for buying up extra power.”

Comments

TRENDING

Breaking news? Top Hindu builder ties up with Muslim investor for a huge minority housing society in Ahmedabad

There is a flutter in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur area, derogatorily referred to as the "border" because, on its eastern side, there is a sprawling minority area called Juhapura, where around five lakh Muslims live. The segregation is so stark that virtually no Muslim lives in Vejalpur, populated by around four lakh Hindus, and no Hindu lives in Juhapura.

60 crore in Mahakumbh? It's all hype with an eye on UP polls, asserts keen BJP supporter in Amit Shah's constituency

As the Mahakumbh drew to a close, during my daily walk, I met a veteran BJP supporter—a neighbor with whom we would often share dinner in a group. An amicable person, the first thing he asked me, as he was about to take the lift to his flat, was, "How many people do you think must have participated in the holy dip?" He then stopped by to talk—which we did for a full half-hour, cutting into my walk time.

An untold story? Still elusive: Gujarati language studies on social history of Gujarat's caste and class evolution

This is a follow-up to my earlier blog , where I mentioned that veteran scholar Prof. Ghanshyam Shah has just completed a book for publication on a topic no academic seems to have dealt with—caste and class relations in Gujarat’s social history. He forwarded me a chapter of the book, published as an "Economic & Political Weekly" article last year, which deals with the 2015 Patidar agitation in the context of how this now-powerful caste originated in the Middle Ages and how it has evolved in the post-independence era.

Morari Bapu echoes misleading figures to support the BJP's anti-conversion agenda

A senior Gujarat activist phoned me today to inform me that the well-known storyteller on Lord Ram, Morari Bapu, has made an "unsubstantiated" and "preposterous" statement in Songadh town, located in the tribal-dominated Tapi district. He claimed that while the Gujarat government wants the Bhagavad Gita to be taught in schools, the "problem is" that 75% of government teachers "are Christians who do not let this happen" and are “involved in religious conversions.”

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Justifying social divisions? 'Dogs too have caste system like we humans, it's natural'

I have never had any pets, nor am I very comfortable with them. Frankly, I don't know how to play with a pet dog. I just sit quietly whenever I visit someone and see their pet dog trying to lick my feet. While I am told not to worry, I still choose to be a little careful, avoiding touching the pet.

Caste, class, and Patidar agitation: Veteran academic 'unearths' Gujarat’s social history

Recently, I was talking with a veteran Gujarat-based academic who is the author of several books, including "Social Movements in India: A Review of Literature", "Untouchability in Rural India", "Public Health and Urban Development: The Study of Surat Plague", and "Dalit Identity and Politics", apart from many erudite articles and papers in research and popular journals.

New York-based digital company traces Modi's meteoric rise to global Hindutva ecosystem over several decades

A recent document, released by the Polis Project Inc.—a New York-based digital magazine and hybrid research and journalism organization—even as seeking to highlight the alleged rise of authoritarianism in India, has sought to trace Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meteoric rise since 2014 to the ever-expanding global Hindutva ecosystem over the last several decades.

Behind the scene? Ex-IAS, now Modi man in Yogi Cabinet, who lined up Mahakumbh VVIP comforts for Gujarat colleagues

The other day, I was talking to a senior IAS official about whether he or his colleagues had traveled to the recently concluded Mahakumbh in Allahabad, which was renamed Prayagraj by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as part of his intense Hindutva drive. He refused to reveal any names but said he had not gone there "despite arrangements for Gujarat cadre IAS officials" at the Mahakumbh VVIP site. "The water is too dirty—why take the risk?" he asked.