Telangana Launches Rs 12,600 Cr Solar Irrigation Scheme For Tribal Farmers

(MENAFN- KNN India) Hyderabad, May 16 (KNN) In a major step towards empowering tribal farmers, the Telangana government has unveiled its new flagship initiative - the Indira Solar Giri Jal Vikasam scheme.

Announced on Thursday, the scheme aims to provide solar-powered irrigation across six lakh acres over five years, benefiting over 2.1 lakh tribal farmers who received land under the Forest Rights Act (RoFR).

With a total budget of Rs 12,600 crore, the project will begin in the 2025-26 fiscal year and run till 2029-30. The official launch is set for May 18 at Macharam village, located in Amrabad mandal of Achampet constituency, and will be led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka.

The scheme offers 100 per cent subsidy for installing solar-powered irrigation systems and includes support for drip irrigation, high-quality saplings, and intercropping assistance to help farmers generate income while waiting for long-term crops to mature.

Multiple departments - including forest, energy, agriculture, and rural development, and groundwater- will jointly implement the project.

District collectors will act as key implementing authorities, and Project Monitoring Units (PMUs) will be set up in each district to ensure smooth execution.

Unlike other states that only issued RoFR titles, Telangana is the first to design a dedicated irrigation and livelihood scheme specifically for RoFR beneficiaries. The initiative targets both RoFR and non-RoFR forest lands.

Government officials highlighted that though the RoFR Act was introduced in 2006, no major irrigation support had followed until now.

This scheme aims to change that by ensuring sustainable farming and long-term economic upliftment for tribal communities.

(KNN Bureau)

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