Odisha announces India's first dedicated Agri-PV (agrivoltaics) policy – 'One Field, Two Harvests'

25 October 2026 · English AgricultureInfrastructure & Energy

Topics: Agriculture, Infrastructure & Governance · 25 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)

News

At the Ministerial Session of the 7th Agrivoltaics World Conference at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi (reported 22 Oct 2026), Odisha Deputy CM and Agriculture–Energy Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo announced the 'Odisha Agri-PV Policy 2026', set to make Odisha the first State with a dedicated Agri-PV policy. Target – 1 GW by 2030. At least 90% of each project site must stay under cultivation; the land keeps its agricultural status and crop-insurance eligibility. Farmers/FPOs may own the systems or lease land to developers; 25-year power purchase agreements with GRIDCO. The policy was announced as finalised; formal notification is awaited.

Key facts

Background

• Agrivoltaics (Agri-PV) – growing crops and generating solar power on the same land at the same time. Raised panels give shade, keep soil moisture and cut heat stress, easing the land-versus-energy conflict. Panels are mounted high enough for tractors to pass.
• PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan) – approved 19 Feb 2019; Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Component A – grid-connected solar plants up to 2 MW (on barren or cultivable land); Component B – standalone solar pumps in off-grid areas (Centre 30% + State 30% + farmer 40%); Component C – solarising existing grid-connected pumps (feeder solarisation).
• Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) – January 2010; one of the eight missions of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC, 2008). The International Solar Alliance (ISA) – launched by India and France at Paris in 2015; HQ Gurugram.
• Odisha background: the policy builds on the Odisha Renewable Energy Policy 2022 and the Feb 2026 investor conclave (₹67,000 crore, 6.8 GW of commitments). The State has mapped 47.7 lakh acres of fallow and 40.7 lakh acres of suitable cropland; incentives are linked to drip irrigation, solar pumps, cold storage and agro-processing.

Tamil Nadu link: the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA), the State's renewable-energy nodal agency since 1984, was merged in 2024 – along with TANGEDCO's renewable-energy wing – into the newly formed Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation Ltd (TNGECL), a dedicated company for hydro, solar, wind and energy storage. (Tamil Nadu has no separate Agri-PV policy yet.)

Source: Pragativadi, OmmCom News, Argus, 22 Oct 2026; ICAR (7th Agrivoltaics World Conference, 21 Oct 2026); PIB factsheet (PM-KUSUM); Wikipedia (TEDA, TNGECL)

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