July 25, 2018

2018: ITP Highlight #02

IWMI-Tata Program's solar experiment in Dhundi has received a lot of positive media and policy attention. Verma, Durga and Shah respond to a recent critique of the experiment published in EPW...

Solar Irrigation Pumps and India’s Energy-Irrigation Nexus

Rejoinder to Sahasranaman et al. (2018). Economic & Political Weekly, 53(21): 65-68.

Shilp Verma, Neha Durga and Tushaar Shah



In their article, “Solar Irrigation Cooperatives: Creating the Frankenstein's Monster for India's Groundwater”, Sahasranaman et al. (2018) erroneously conclude that, “the Dhundi pilot… is an experiment that has gone terribly wrong”. While the article is full of miscalculations and internal inconsistencies, as fellow researchers, we welcome their critique. In the first half of this rejoinder, we offer clarifications so that readers can make a proper assessment of the Dhundi experiment. In the second half, we reiterate our vision of the critical role that solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) can play in India's agriculture future by projecting likely consequences of alternate policy scenarios.



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