5 February 2020 | New Delhi, India

In collaboration, CLEAN, SwitchON Foundation & GIZ hosted a panel discussion followed by a closed-door roundtable at the “India Energy for All Summit 2020” on 5 February 2020. The roundtable discussion was held in collaboration with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), key experts in the finance and solar pumping sector for the PM-KUSUM Scheme, which promotes solar pumps and grid-connected solar plants for farmers. The discussion was organised to gather experiences and insights, particularly around easy financing options, user acceptance, and cost reduction of solar water pumps. The objective of the roundtable was also to explore the financing options available for off-grid solar water pumps in India to strengthen the PM-KUSUM scheme.

The panel discussion started with MNRE explaining the contours of the PM-KUSUM scheme in the Union Budget 2020-21. MNRE is keen to explore the potential financiers for easy financing solutions and look for more business cases to support the scheme. In the grid-connected mode, the farmers can earn income by selling their electricity. Furthermore, there is potential for off-grid solar water pumps if customised according to the needs of the consumers.

There were also presentations made on details of the PM-KUSUM scheme focusing on Component B of the scheme, which addresses standalone solar powered agricultural pumps and various business models practised by CLEAN member enterprises. Another presentation was on various types of credit enhancement instruments that are available to mitigate risk under the solar water pump business.

The presentations were followed by the roundtable discussion on how to reach the ambitious goal of 20 lakh off-grid standalone pumps under the PM-KUSUM scheme by jointly working with financiers, developers, and farmers. In business models without subsidies, Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) is a type of fund which can be leveraged. There was a discussion on potential financing methods to support the scheme. The discussion brought out specific points for the PM-KUSUM scheme which were summarised by MNRE. These included the availability of upfront subsidy since the scheme needs larger workshops with the financial institutions in collaboration with IREDA to explore financing options, awareness generation and capacity building of banks and financial institutions. Lastly, MNRE stated that the estimated market size is INR 1 lakh 25 thousand crores which will be required from banks and financial institutions for PM-KUSUM after 60% of the government subsidy. 

For more details, please contact Ms. Prerna Sharma prerna.sharma(at)giz.de.