Announcing the pilot project of the scheme in Gandhinagar, chief minister Vijay Rupani termed it a revolutionary step towards empowering farmers to generate their own electricity using solar energy and help doubling their income.

As per the scheme, farmers having existing electricity connection will be given solar panels as per their load requirements. The State and Central governments will give 60 per cent subsidy on the cost of project. The farmer is required to take 5 per cent cost, while 35 per cent will be provided to him as an affordable loan with interest rates of 4.5-6 per cent.

The scheme duration is 25 years, which is split between 7-year period and 18-year period.

“For the first 7 years, farmers will get per unit rate of Rs 7 (Rs 3.5 by GUVNL + Rs 3.5 by state govt). For the subsequent 18 years they will get the rate of Rs 3.5 for each unit sold,” said Saurabh Patel, State Energy Minister.

“This is a first such scheme in the country, where farmer would produce his power and sell the surplus to the State power utility,” said the Chief Minister, adding that the work on the scheme will begin from July 2.

• Solar Panels Purchase Cost – Out of the total cost, farmers will only have to pay 5%. 60% would be given as subsidy amount while 35% would be given as low interest rate loans for 7 years. The loan repayment time is fixed at 7 years.
• Selling Additional Power – Farmers can sell the additional power to state government. For first 7 years, govt. will purchase power at a cost of Rs. 7 per unit while govt. will purchase the power at Rs. 3.5 per unit for next 18 years.
• This scheme will provide a huge relief to the farmers and will also generate additional income. Farmers will be able to recover the cost of investment within the next 8 to 18 months.
• Till date, farmers are getting electricity for 8 hours for irrigation purpose. After the successful implementation of this project, farmers will get electricity upto 12 hours. Moreover, it will also resolve the concerns of farmers of getting power supply only at night.
• Extra Earnings for the Govt. – Currently, farmers in Gujarat pay around 50 paise / unit for electricity supply for irrigation purposes. The state government spends about Rs. 4,500 – 5,000 crore per year as subsidy on electricity for irrigation purpose. This subsidy cost can be brought down by proper implementation of SKY Scheme.