GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 4th August. The Congress party launched a scathing attack on the Modi government over the implementation of the PM-KUSUM initiative, accusing the Centre of mishandling the scheme intended to boost agricultural use of solar energy.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh criticized the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, citing “startling facts” about the PM-KUSUM scheme, which was launched in 2019 with promises of significant progress. According to Ramesh, the scheme’s performance has been disappointing two years ahead of its 2026 target.
In a post on X, Ramesh detailed the discrepancies between the scheme’s promises and its achievements:
Promise: Installation of 10,000 MW decentralized solar power plants on agricultural land.
Reality: Only 256 MW has been installed, representing just 2.56% of the target.
Promise: Installation of 14 lakh solar pumps.
Reality: 3.97 lakh solar pumps have been installed, or about 28% of the target.
Promise: Solarisation of 35 lakh additional pumps.
Reality: Only 13,562 pumps have been solarized, which is 0.38% of the target.
Ramesh noted that the scheme’s performance is somewhat better in the installation of solar pumps, although he pointed out that a significant number of these installations have been concentrated in three states: Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. All these states were governed by Congress or coalition partners for much of the 2019-2024 period.
“The energy transition to renewable sources is a key economic priority for India,” Ramesh said. “The non-biological PM and his government cannot persist with this cavalier implementation of schemes.”
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