A farmer from Jamtara, Jharkhand, has emerged as a quiet success story of the PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan) scheme, with Damodar Singh reporting a net annual income of up to ₹1.5 lakh from solar-powered irrigation — enough, he says, to build a home and fund his children's schooling. The transformation, he explains, began months after solar pumps were installed at his farm under the centrally sponsored scheme.

From Diesel Dependency to Zero Operating Cost

Before the switch, Damodar Singh spent between ₹8,000 and ₹10,000 per month on diesel to run irrigation pumps — a recurring drain compounded by erratic grid power supply. The installation of solar pumps under PM-KUSUM eliminated that expense entirely. His operational irrigation cost is now reportedly zero.

Critically, the shift also freed him from dependence on rainfall. Previously, he could manage only one rain-fed crop cycle per year. With on-demand solar-powered water access, he now harvests three crops annually, including paddy and vegetable cultivation — a diversification that has meaningfully widened his income base.

Selling Water to Neighbours Adds a New Revenue Stream

Singh has gone beyond using the solar pump for his own fields. By supplying irrigation water to neighbouring farmers, he has created an additional income stream that contributes to his reported ₹1.5 lakh annual net income. This peer-to-peer water sharing model — informal but effective — illustrates a second-order benefit of the scheme that official data does not always capture.

Subsidies under the scheme are disbursed directly into beneficiaries' bank accounts through digital payment channels, with no intermediaries involved, according to Singh. 'We receive the benefits directly through the online system, with no middlemen involved,' he said. 'We can farm year-round, which supports our livelihood. My family is happy, and my children are able to study well.'

What PM-KUSUM Aims to Achieve

The PM-KUSUM scheme was launched with the stated objectives of providing energy and water security to farmers, reducing the farm sector's dependence on diesel, and cutting environmental pollution from fossil-fuel-based irrigation. The scheme offers subsidised solar pumps and, in some components, allows farmers to sell surplus solar power back to the grid.

This comes amid a broader push by the Centre to de-dieselise Indian agriculture, where fuel costs remain one of the largest variable expenses for smallholder farmers. Jharkhand, with its rain-dependent agrarian economy and persistent power supply challenges, has been among the states where the scheme's water-security component carries particular relevance.

Broader Impact and What Comes Next

Singh's case is one of several emerging from Jharkhand that suggest the scheme is gaining traction in districts with historically low irrigation coverage. Whether outcomes like his are replicable at scale depends on continued subsidy disbursement, maintenance support for installed pumps, and farmer awareness — areas where implementation quality has varied across states.

As the scheme expands, the direct-benefit-transfer model for subsidy delivery will be closely watched as a template for reducing leakage in agricultural welfare programmes.