Bihar can implement PM-KUSUM the way most states have, one component at a time, or the Energy Department can use this moment to establish itself as the architect of Bihar's clean energy transition, with PM-KUSUM as the anchor scheme and agriculture as the first and most consequential application. The fiscal case for solarising agricultural supply stands on its own: competitively procured solar power can substantially reduce the cost of supplying subsidised agricultural electricity, thereby lowering the State's long-term subsidy burden. The larger opportunity is to design that solarisation so it also strengthens groundwater management, digitises farmer records once instead of seven times, puts JEEViKA's existing self-help network to work as the financing and governance backbone, and builds an architecture the department can later extend to storage, EV charging, and other clean energy work. We have not found another state that has combined these pieces yet.
Why this is a fiscal question, not just an energy one
PM-KUSUM Component-C solar power in Bihar is procured through competitive bidding at ₹2.77 to ₹3.48 a unit for twenty-five years,3 roughly half of the DISCOMs' average power purchase cost of ₹5.43 a unit.1 The farmer's bill does not change. What changes is what it costs the state treasury to fund that bill, and that gap, measured against Bihar's Average Cost of Supply of ₹9.30 a unit,1 is where the recurring subsidy actually comes from.
Feeder-level solarisation is the fastest way to bring this saving in: a single BSPGCL tender already covers 1,610 MW across 3,681 agriculture and mixed feeders, and 238.15 MW of that has already cleared Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission approval.3 The figures on this page are drawn from BERC's own FY2025-26 tariff order and its PM-KUSUM orders; see References for the full citation list.
The recommendation
Bihar has the opportunity to establish one of India's first integrated Clean Energy Missions led by a state Energy Department, not a PM-KUSUM implementation report. The Bihar Clean Energy Mission (BCEM) is that mission architecture, with PM-KUSUM as its anchor scheme: five pillars that define it today, and one that defines what the department takes on next.
Renewable Agricultural Energy
Water Security
Digital Energy Governance
Productive Energy Use
Institutional Reform: Mission governance, digital platform standards, cybersecurity, and monitoring, the foundation that makes the rest governable as one mission
Emerging Clean Energy Frontiers: storage, rural EV charging, microgrids, biomass, and green hydrogen, carried as forward scope with no funding ask in this note
What Bihar should borrow, and from whom
| State | Take this one idea |
|---|---|
| Odisha | A single strong technical nodal agency, the BREDA equivalent, running beneficiary-driven deployment |
| Andhra Pradesh | Feeder-level solarisation with GIS planning and Chief-Secretary-level monitoring |
| Gujarat | Farmer-elected feeder committees and surplus-power income, financed through JEEViKA rather than individual bank loans this time |
| Rajasthan | Every solar sanction paired with a water-use condition, not issued on energy grounds alone |
What is being asked of the department now
- Approve the BCEM blueprint as the Energy Department's own framework, with PM-KUSUM as its anchor scheme rather than the department's whole agenda.
- Constitute the Mission Steering Committee, chaired by the Chief Secretary, with BREDA as the technical lead, to take the concept into detailed design.
- Direct BSPHCL to confirm the agriculture-specific share of the state's annual power subsidy against its own revenue filings; every other fiscal figure in this note is now sourced directly to a BERC order.
- Flag JEEViKA and the Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Abhiyan for early coordination, since both sit outside the Energy Department and are load-bearing parts of this design.
That the Energy Department adopt BCEM, with its six-pillar structure and PM-KUSUM as its anchor scheme, as its working blueprint, and take up items 2 through 4 above in Phase I.