Running On Sunshine, Running Out Of Water

On his six-acre farm in Jhansi in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Sanjeev Kumar, a 42-year-old farmer beams with quiet pride as he points to the glinting blue solar panels powering his irrigation pump. Installed two years ago at the cost of ₹3.5 lakhs (₹350,000), the 7-kilowatt system draws groundwater from as deep as 200 metres. It has been a game-changer for the wheat and peanut farmer from Chamraua village in Babina block.

“Before this, I had to rely on diesel or unreliable electricity (to operate his irrigation pump). Now, I get more water without paying a rupee for power,” Kumar said. His story mirrors a growing trend across rural India where solar irrigation pumps are being rapidly installed.

But along with the energy benefits, there are invisible consequences – excess water extraction and energy going waste.

Double-edged rise of solar pumps

Solar irrigation pumps, first introduced in the 1970s, were initially not widely adopted because solar panels were expensive. However, as solar photovoltaic (PV) prices reduced, down to nearly one-fourth of their initial cost by 2009, it improved the economic feasibility of these systems. Around the same time, in 2010, India launched its first major solar promotion initiative, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), marking a turning point in promoting solar technologies, including irrigation pumps.

In recent years, solar irrigation pumps have continued to grow, driven by government initiatives such as the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme, launched in 2019 to install off-grid solar pumps and solarise agricultural feeders. Over one million solar pumps have been installed under this scheme.

However, the high number of solar pumps comes with concerns such as groundwater depletion and energy waste, highlight several recent reports. “India’s solar irrigation programme is going seriously astray,” states a study published in the Economic and Political Weekly in March. It notes that off-grid solar pumps waste two-thirds of the energy they generate.

There are also concerns that solar-powered groundwater irrigation may not reduce emissions as expected and could lead to more water extraction. This poses a serious challenge for India, which is already the world’s largest consumer of groundwater, extracting more than the United States and China combined, largely for agricultural use. A 2023 report by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) revealed that over 1,000 administrative blocks across India are now classified as “overexploited,” where groundwater extraction exceeds natural recharge. The situation is particularly alarming in agrarian states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and parts of central India.

The benefits of solar irrigation pumps, however, are undeniable: access to reliable power in regions plagued by outages, savings on electricity and diesel costs, and greater autonomy for farmers, said Chetan Singh Solanki, professor at IIT Bombay and founder of the Energy Swaraj Foundation.

But this newfound freedom comes with a catch.

“With solar pumps, the marginal cost of running them is zero,” said Solanki. “Once installed, and often subsidised, there is no real reason for farmers to switch them off. Water keeps flowing. And that’s a recipe for over-extraction.”

In water-stressed regions such as Punjab, Haryana, and Bundelkhand, this dynamic is especially troubling. Solanki, who comes from a farming family, recalls how free or flat-rate electricity tariffs already encouraged the overuse of pumps. He warns that the pattern is repeating with solar, “but on steroids.”

“We are seeing more borewells, more pumping, and very little groundwater recharge,” he said. “It is not just a farming issue. It’s a national water crisis in the making.”

Unplugged energy

Krishna Gandhi, a septuagenarian farmer from a remote village in Jhansi district, opted for solar power in 2018, well before the launch of the PM-KUSUM scheme, to escape the hassles of connecting to an unreliable electricity grid. “We had no permanent power supply. Even temporary connections cost ₹8,000 for three months and were full of cuts,” he said.

Gandhi’s setup — a 5-kilowatt solar array coupled with an inverter and batteries — now powers his household and a 2-horsepower pump that runs for three to four hours daily during sunny spells. “It’s been a lifesaver. But in Bundelkhand [the region in which Jhansi is located], the underground water is so deep, and the soil is rocky. You dig a borewell and still might not find water,” he added.

Gandhi said he doesn’t overuse his pump, partly due to battery limitations and also because of the small size of his farm.

Under the PM-KUSUM scheme, farmers like Gandhi, who under-utilise the energy from solar pumps, are encouraged to earn income by feeding unused electricity into the grid. The idea is that if farmers can profit from selling electricity, they might operate pumps more efficiently and reduce excessive groundwater extraction.

However, this aspect of the policy has not seen widespread adoption.

The PM-KUSUM scheme has three parts: Components A and C let farmers sell extra solar power to the grid, while Component B supports off-grid solar pumps on farms. Progress on Components A and C has been particularly slow and yet to properly take off, notes a 2024 study. By May this year, 603 MW was installed under Component A, which is only 6.03% of its 10,000 MW target by March 2026. Under Component C, only 7,660 pumps were installed — about 13.9% of the 55,073 target.

“There is a scheme to sell excess power to the grid,” Gandhi said. “But it’s not worth it. You pay ₹6-8 per unit for electricity from the grid, and they give you only ₹2-3 for what you send back. Plus, the process is full of paperwork and corruption.”

Farmers like Gandhi remain reluctant to participate due to unattractive pricing, bureaucratic hurdles, and the upfront cost and hassle of installing smart meters. As a result, while the policy exists on paper, its potential to curb groundwater overuse by solar pumps remains largely untapped.

Metering the mess

Experts argue that the lack of metering, both for water and electricity, is at the root of the problem. Without it, there is no cap on usage, no data on depletion, and no incentive for conservation.

“There’s no incentive to switch it [the pump] off,” said Chetan Agarwal, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Ecology Development & Research (CEDAR). “If power is free and unmetered, people will use as much as they want. A smart way would be to meter usage and offer credits — say, the first 200 units of electricity are free, and after that, you pay. That way, there’s an incentive to stay efficient.”

In the absence of such mechanisms, Agarwal warns that India risks exhausting its groundwater sources. “The PM-KUSUM scheme, for example, needs to think beyond installation targets. What happens after the pump is installed? If it’s not connected to the grid and remains unmetered, the water will just keep flowing,” he said.

Solutions do exist, experts say — if implemented with foresight. Grid-connected solar pumps, for instance, allow farmers to sell excess electricity back to the grid, incentivising them to use only as much as needed for irrigation. “This can greatly help in reducing the misuse of underground water,” said Agarwal.

Still, scaling such models remains a challenge. “It’s a messy system,” said Agarwal. “Corruption, lack of awareness, inadequate infrastructure — all of it makes it difficult. And the pricing mechanisms don’t favour small farmers.”

Despite these hurdles, solar irrigation continues to expand rapidly across rural India, transforming how farmers access water and energy. Yet, for those on the ground — like Kumar and Gandhi — the impact is more complex. While the shift offers immediate relief from electricity shortages, it risks deepening long-term water stress.

As India moves toward its ambitious goal of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel energy by 2030, experts warn that managing the water-energy nexus is no longer optional — it’s essential. “We need long-term thinking,” said Solanki. “Water policy can’t lag behind energy policy. Otherwise, we’ll be trading one crisis for another. A dry future powered by the sun!”