Rajasthan aims to extend two-block daytime power supply for agricultural activities to all districts by 2027, according to Energy Minister Heeralal Nagar, in a move that the state government says will reduce expensive peak-hour electricity purchases and improve access to power for farmers.
Nagar said Khairthal-Tijara was the latest district to be brought under the programme. The report said 28 of Rajasthan’s 41 districts were currently covered and that 11 more were to be included by 2027. Those figures do not reconcile mathematically, and the exact number of districts covered and remaining requires clarification from the state government.
The minister said Ajmer discom had become the first power distribution company in Rajasthan to provide daytime agricultural supply across all 14 districts under its jurisdiction. The daytime schedule is intended to shift irrigation-related agricultural demand away from night hours, when the distribution companies may need to rely more heavily on costly power purchases during peak periods.
According to Nagar, Rajasthan has shifted 1,489 MW of agricultural load to daytime supply. He said the change had resulted in estimated annual savings of Rs 1,246 crore for the state’s discoms. The supplied report did not provide a district-wise implementation schedule, details of the two daily supply blocks or the infrastructure investment required to complete the expansion.
The minister also linked the daytime supply programme to the expansion of renewable energy and decentralised solar generation. Rajasthan’s renewable energy capacity had reached 52.13 GW, including 46 GW of solar capacity, Nagar said. The state had added 29 GW of renewable capacity in the previous 34 months, according to his account, and represented nearly 17% of India’s total installed renewable energy capacity.
Nagar said the PM-Kusum scheme had supported the shift towards daytime agricultural electricity through decentralised solar projects. More than 2,666 such projects, with a combined capacity of 5.74 GW, had been installed and were benefiting over 3.9 lakh farmers, he said. The state had facilitated Rs 1,156 crore in central financial assistance for 1,193 project developers.
To manage fluctuations in solar generation and meet demand during peak hours, Rajasthan is also expanding energy storage infrastructure. Nagar cited the Pugal solar park in Bikaner, where solar plants with a combined capacity of 2,450 MW and a 6,400 MWh battery storage system are under development. Four developers have been selected through competitive bidding, with the lowest quoted tariff at Rs 3.42 per unit, according to the report.
The state has also approved pumped storage projects at Rampura in Tonk and Singli in Banswara. A proposed 900 MW plant at Rampura was among the projects cited by the minister. The government’s next implementation milestone for extending daytime agricultural supply across the state, including confirmation of the district coverage figures, was not specified in the supplied report.
