wl-7003-Energy Transition in Irrigation: India’s Trysts with Solarization of Irrigation

The role of energy in driving irrigation led agrarian development is well established. Energy Transition in agriculture driven by solarisation of irrigation will have several spill-over benefits such as improved food security and income from livelihoods. It can also contribute to building climate resilience while aiding the adoption of different climate adaptation strategies. The government and many international development agencies in India have experimented with different strategies and schemes for upscaling solar powered irrigation in the past decade. These experiments and pilots have helped different stakeholders understand the costs, benefits, opportunities, and threats associated with the new energy technology from different perspectives for agrarian community. This paper presents the evolution of public policy associated with energy transition in irrigation in the last decade and synthesizes the critical techno-socio-economic insights from the most notable experiments that have shaped the energy transition discourse in irrigation in the country.