The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has invited bids for installing 50 innovative solar pumps under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyaan (PM-KUSUM) program.

The successful bidder will have to take care of the operation and maintenance activities of the installed pumps for five years.

The purpose of the call for expressions of interest is to promote innovation in solar pumps by allowing the innovators to showcase their technologies in real field conditions.

MNRE will shortlist the promising technologies with variable claims for improved parameters and allow the selected innovators to install solar pumps under the PM-KUSUM program.

The last date to submit the bids is August 18, 2022.

At present, under the program, solar pumps fulfilling the MNRE specifications can be installed. However, to promote technological innovation, the ministry has decided to permit the installation of innovative standalone solar pumps in test mode.

The MNRE program supports the installation of 2 million standalone solar pumps of capacity up to 7.5 HP by 2025-26.

Only those innovative products which are available for testing and field trials will be eligible for participation. The test reports for the improved solar pumping system should be available with the innovator.

Also, new technologies for which patent/IP (intellectual property) applications are filed but patents may not have been awarded will also be eligible to participate. In this case, the organization which has filed the patent should be the sole applicant or lead partner in case of a consortium or joint venture.

Innovators declared successful by the evaluation committee will be invited by the ministry to install up to 50 improved standalone solar pumps per the KUSUM program’s guidelines.

Innovators who accept the ministry’s invitation will be empanelled and allocated sites for installing solar pumps.

The stages of development of technology may include – the prototype stage, testing and field trial completed (to be supported with evidence), and the commercial production stage.

The field demonstration will continue for at least one year from the installation date of such pumps, and during that period, the pump’s performance will be monitored in real-time.

Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab are the top three states with the highest number of solar pump installations under the PM-KUSUM program. The information was shared by the Minister of State of New and Renewable Energy Bhagwanth Khuba in a written response to questions in the Lok Sabha.

Earlier, MNRE issued a new guideline stating that states can invite bids to empanel vendors for different regions to install standalone solar pumps under the PM KUSUM program. To give sufficient time to states for implementation, MNRE decided to increase the implementation period to 24 months from the date of issue of approval for all three components of the KUSUM program. Extension beyond 24 months would be considered as per the program guidelines.

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