“Solarpreneurs” – powering irrigation in rural India

By Rajiv Ahuja and Amarpreet Kaur

India is the world’s largest producer of mint. With 75 per cent of mint cultivation concentrated in Uttar Pradesh, districts like Barabanki are at the heart of India’s mint economy. Yet, smallholder farmers face mounting challenges: climate uncertainty, rising input costs and shrinking returns. Addressing these intertwined challenges requires better agricultural practices, smarter infrastructure and solutions that are both socially impactful and commercially viable.

One such solution is being implemented under the Indo-German development cooperation project “Building a Resilient Mint Supply Chain in India”, a strategic collaboration between the companies Symrise and Haleon and the Indian Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) as the knowledge partner, and funded through the develoPPP programme that Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implements on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project aims to enhance the resilience of farmers through a holistic approach that combines on-farm climate and financial resilience with off-farm livelihood improvement activities.

As part of this project, GIZ, along with the service provider Oorja Development Solutions India Private Limited (Oorja), is implementing an innovative and inclusive business model called "pay-per-use” and designed to provide essential farming services to smallholder farmers in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. Oorja’s Irrigation-as-a-Service (IaaS) model, based on cloud computing, eliminates upfront costs by providing services on a pay-per-use basis. This approach allows farmers to purchase equipment without the financial burden.

Beyond increasing yields and incomes, the initiative creates local employment opportunities, fosters farmer-led enterprises and strengthens climate and financial resilience in rural communities. IaaS, designed within a scalable EASY framework (Equitable, Affordable, Sustainable, Yield-driven), is transforming rural water access and showcasing how public–private collaboration drives clean-energy innovation in agriculture

From diesel dependency to solar empowerment

Historically, smallholder farmers in India have relied heavily on diesel or electric pumps to irrigate crops. These pumps, while functional, are environmentally costly and economically burdensome (see Table below). IaaS introduced under the project, implemented through a community-managed, entrepreneur-driven model, represents a significant leap forward. By replacing diesel pumps with solar systems, the project aims to reduce irrigation costs, improve sustainability for mint, rice and potato farming, and promote inclusive growth, benefiting small-scale, women-led and low-income farmer households. By training local youth as “solarpreneurs” to manage operations and payments, the model fosters rural enterprises and embeds accountability within communities.

Diesel versus solar irrigation

Breaking financial barriers – an inclusive, community-based business model

One key obstacle to the adoption of solar-powered irrigation is the high initial investment required for a solar pump. This is an expense that remains out of reach for many farmers, despite the potential for long-term cost savings. The inclusive approach discussed here anddesigned to remove financial barriers to sustainable irrigation, eliminates the high upfront investment typically required for solar irrigation technology. Instead, farmers pay solely for the volume of water used, making the service

• accessible to smallholders,
• affordable, with tariffs up to 60 per cent lower than diesel alternatives,
• reliable, with consistent water access and
• convenient, as operations and maintenance are fully managed.

This provides irrigation without requiring farmers to own or maintain pumps. A single pump supports 15-20 farmers, covering around 20 acres of farmland. Local youth are trained to operate and maintain these systems, manage payments and handle customer relations, which fosters a rural green enterprise ecosystem.

Despite the service’s affordability, low awareness remains a barrier. Outreach via media, village meetings, and on spot registration kiosks informs farmers and guides them on water, crops, and solar irrigation use.

The service’s effectiveness aligns with the US American sociologist Everett M. Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory. By removing high capital barriers through a pay-per-use model, the concept lowers adoption risk and attracts early adopters – progressive farmers who act as proof points for solar irrigation. Their positive experiences encourage peers, while the shared, community-based model fosters collective ownership and accelerates uptake.

Site selection – a five-step process

The identification and setup of solar irrigation sites follow a rigorous, data-driven approach.

Alignment with national priorities and global goals

The project’s initiative aligns closely with India's flagship climate and energy missions, reinforcing both national and international commitments to sustainable development. At the forefront is the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM), launched by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India. The Government Mission seeks to solarise over two million irrigation pumps across the country. Moreover, the initiative supports the goals of the National Solar Mission and the National Water Mission, both core pillars of India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The decentralised service also feeds into India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, supporting targets such as reducing emissions intensity and increasing renewable energy capacity.

"Solarpreneurs" from the community manage the daily operations of the solar irrigation plant.
Photo: Elea

Multi-stakeholder impact

The solar irrigation service delivers impacts across agronomic, social, environmental, and institutional dimensions. This benefits all stakeholders involved.

Farmers: enhanced productivity and financial resilience. At the farm level, reliable and affordable irrigation has led to improved crop productivity, especially for water-sensitive crops such as mint. By replacing diesel-based pumping, farmers have significantly reduced operational costs and dependency on volatile fuel markets. The pay-per-use service ensures that smallholders who often operate on thin margins can access water without the burden of capital investment or maintenance.

Rural youth: green entrepreneurship and skill development. At community level, the initiative is a catalyst for rural employment and entrepreneurship. Local youth are trained as pump operators. They gain valuable technical, financial and managerial skills, which fosters local ownership and accountability.

Women: emerging roles in resource governance. While traditionally excluded from water infrastructure decision-making, women are gradually being integrated into the ecosystem. By reducing physical drudgery and saving time, women are increasingly contributing to collective decision-making and exploring new livelihood opportunities within the irrigation ecosystem.

Communities: strengthened collective structures. The shared infrastructure model fosters collective action and cooperation among farmers. Group membership, joint decision-making, and transparent tariff structures have strengthened social cohesion and enhanced trust in decentralised service delivery.

Environment: reduced emissions and sustainable water use. Environmentally, the transition from diesel to solar has eliminated emissions at the point of use, which reduces air pollution and contributes to India’s climate mitigation targets. By removing fossil fuel dependency, the service also lowers the risk of soil and water contamination. Efficient irrigation scheduling, enabled through timely service delivery, prevents over-extraction of groundwater, promoting long-term resource sustainability in water-stressed regions.

Institutions and policy-makers: scalable climate solutions. At systemic level, the service demonstrates how decentralised, clean technology solutions can effectively serve last-mile communities. By combining grassroots innovation with national policy alignment, the service offers a scalable, replicable solution for building climate resilience in rural agriculture.

Inference and way forward

The transition from diesel-dependent to solar-powered irrigation represents a catalyst for equitable rural development and climate resilience. For the private sector, this transition presents a compelling investment and innovation opportunity. This model creates a viable market ecosystem for solar solution providers, technology developers, financiers and service enterprises to co-create scalable business models that deliver both impact and returns. Private partners play a pivotal role not only as funders but also as long-term stakeholders – driving efficiency, ensuring service quality and expanding market reach through local entrepreneurship and supply chains. By demonstrating that sustainable irrigation can be both commercially viable and socially transformative, the initiative reinforces the private sector’s position at the heart of India’s green growth story. As solar irrigation spreads across Uttar Pradesh’s mint belt, it showcases how public purpose and private enterprise can converge to secure the future of climate-smart agriculture.

Moving forward, Oorja continues to oversee ownership and maintenance of the solar irrigation assets, ensuring that services are reliably provided to the farmer-entrepreneurs even after the project ends. This approach guarantees operational continuity, supports local enterprise sustainability and strengthens the long-term impact of the initiative. If subsidies under the PM-KUSUM scheme increase, farmers are likely to be even more encouraged to adopt solar irrigation, further accelerating the transition to sustainable and resilient farming practices.

Mr Rajiv Ahuja is a Senior Advisor, MintUP at GIZ India, working on climate-resilient agriculture with a focus on enhancing rural livelihoods, promoting youth engagement, and supporting sustainable value chains in India.

Ms Amarpreet Kaur is a Junior Knowledge Management Advisor, MintUP at GIZ India, supporting communications and knowledge sharing in sustainable agriculture initiatives.
Contact: amarpreet.kaur(at)giz.de