Ignoring the recommendation of the Centre, the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) has avoided using the solar pumps equipped with the Universal Solar Pump Controller (USPC). 

Notably, the state government had installed these solar pumps at the cost of ₹200 crore. As per reports, if these pumps were used, the state would have saved ₹600 crore in electricity costs.

There is a provision for installing solar pumps in the Kusum Policy of the New and Renewable Energy Department of the Central Government. 

Not only in Gujarat but in the entire country, most of the solar controllers can run the motor to draw water for a maximum of 150 days in a year. While the solar controller equipped with USPC technology can be used for 320 days.

Mentioning this, Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani cited an example in Rajasthan. The Ashok Gehlot government had installed 1,000 solar controllers equipped with USPC technology, benefitting a farmer who earned ₹6 lakh in one year for every six acres of land.

Mevani alleged that in Gujarat, this number comes down to ₹11,000-12,000 for a farmer family. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mentioned the technology in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ broadcast, and if the Government of Gujarat had listened to the PM, it would have helped the farmers of the state.

The Congress MLA alleged that no tender has been floated yet for the implementation of the technology. If a budget of ₹5,000 crore is allocated for installing 2.5 lakh USPC pumps, it will significantly raise farmers’ income and make them financially independent.

Mevani claimed that it could also produce employment opportunities for 10 lakh people in Gujarat.