‘A dry future powered by the sun’: Solar water pumps are draining India’s groundwater reserves

On his six-acre farm in Jhansi in 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 Rs 3.5 lakh, 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, or 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, marking a turning point in promoting solar technologies, including irrigation...

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