Odisha

Farmers To Be Provided Solar Pumps Under ‘Soura Jalanidhi’ In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: To encourage the use of solar energy in agriculture, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the ‘Soura Jalanidhi’ scheme and its web portal at the State Secretariat here on Tuesday.

Launching the scheme, the Chief Minister said, “The aim of development of the state is to develop our village and agriculture. For this, we have been introducing many yojanas.”

Under the scheme, farmers residing in areas where there is lack of electricity will be provided with 5,000 solar pumps. These will enable the irrigation of 2,500 acres of land. “This yojana will reduce the investment of the farmers and their income will also increase. They will get more water in the farmlands,” he added.

The farmers of un-served and under-served areas will benefit from this yojana in the first phase. The solar pumps will be provided to the beneficiary farmers at a subsidy of 90 per cent. A total of Rs 27 crore will be spent for the programme. “I hope the farmers will utilise this yojana and contribute to the development of agriculture,” he added.

Around 1,000 farmers of 30 districts of state were connected through video conference during the launch.