PM KUSUM Component C for Installers: Feeder and Pump Solarisation

An installer in a farm district hears that a "KUSUM C" tender is out. One contact says it solarises farmers' pumps. Another says it is a 4 MW plant beside a substation. A third says only companies with a crore of net worth can touch it. All three are right, because Component C is two businesses under one name.

This guide separates them. It uses MNRE's own guidelines and office memoranda, PIB releases, a Lok Sabha reply and two state agencies' tender documents. It covers who tenders, what the subsidy is, whether the scheme is still running on 31 October 2026, and where a small installer can realistically sit. It does not promise work to anyone. Most of this component's pumps go through MW-scale plants that need a financial gate most district installers cannot clear alone, and we show you the gate.

Key takeaway. PM-KUSUM Component C has two parts: individual pump solarisation (IPS, also called C1) and feeder level solarisation (FLS, C2). Central assistance is 30% of cost, or 50% in northeastern, hilly and island regions, and state agencies or DISCOMs run the tenders (MNRE guidelines, 17 Jan 2024). Official data to 30 Nov 2025 shows 55,828 pumps sanctioned under IPS against 35,27,492 under FLS, so most local work is as a partner, not a bidder.

How this guide was built. Every rule below comes from a document we opened on 31 October 2026: the MNRE consolidated PM-KUSUM guidelines of 17 Jan 2024, the PIB release of 4 Dec 2020, the PIB release of 23 Dec 2023, the PIB release of 10 Dec 2025 on Lok Sabha Q 1770, the Lok Sabha reply of 29 Jul 2026, Q 1613, and the state agencies' own pages for Maharashtra, the MSKVY 2.0 scheme document of 22 Apr 2023 and the MSAPL RfS for 231 MW in Nashik, 4 Jan 2024, and for Kerala, the ANERT rate-contract EoI of 24 Jun 2024. The two state tenders are 2023 and 2024 documents, so they show how a gate is built, not what today's open tender says. For the latest deadlines we read three MNRE office memoranda that the National Portal for PM-KUSUM lists under "What's New": 28 Mar 2026, 25 May 2026 and 28 Sep 2026. They are scanned PDF and image files, so we quote them rather than paraphrase. The Component B side is in our PM-KUSUM Component B guide and is not repeated here.

What Component C covers: pump solarisation (IPS) and feeder solarisation (FLS)

Component C solarises agriculture that is already connected to the grid. IPS puts solar on one farmer's existing pump. FLS puts a solar plant near a distribution substation to power a whole agricultural feeder. Both are run by an implementing agency, a DISCOM or another department the state designates, so neither is a scheme an installer can enter by filing a form (MNRE guidelines, 17 Jan 2024, clauses 6.1 and 6.4.1).

If you read our PMKUSUM glossary entry, Component C is the "existing grid pump" slice. The guidelines also let states move quantity between Component B and Component C (clause 2.2), so a state short of off-grid demand can shift it.

The CFA rates and the IPS and FLS duties above are from clauses 6.3.5, 6.3.6, 6.4.3, 6.4.4 and 6.4.7 of the MNRE consolidated PM-KUSUM guidelines of 17 Jan 2024. The ₹1.05 crore per MW figure is from the PIB release of 23 Dec 2023, and rests on a 2020 cost estimate of ₹3.5 crore per MW (see the PIB release of 4 Dec 2020). The guidelines say MNRE notifies the plant cost "from time to time", so check it before you price anything off it.

Is PM-KUSUM Component C still open in October 2026?

The official answer is yes, but only for work that is already contracted. The Lok Sabha reply of 29 July 2026 states that the implementation timeline of PM-KUSUM "is extended till 31.03.2027 for all components of the scheme". MNRE's own memoranda are narrower: the 31 March 2027 completion date applies to projects "where the PPA has been signed/NTP has been issued on or before 31.12.2025". The same Lok Sabha reply says the targeted capacities for decentralised plants and feeder solarisation have been allocated to the states. That points to states finishing sanctioned quantities, not a fresh national round.

Three practical readings follow. First, the 28 September 2026 memorandum is addressed to the State Implementing Agencies (SIAs) and is about project developers: they must reach financial closure, with documentary evidence from the lender or promoter, by 30 November 2026, and projects with a PPA or NTP dated on or before 31 December 2025 have until 31 March 2027 to complete. The memorandum names Components A and C and does not separate IPS from FLS, so ask your SIA in writing whether the 30 November date applies to an IPS lot you are bidding for or supplying. Second, the 25 May 2026 clarification says the timeline for any single project is set by its own PPA or NTP, MNRE's sanction validity and the guidelines. The guidelines give 24 months from MNRE's sanction, extendable by up to six months at Joint Secretary level and beyond that by the Secretary (clause 6.5). So ask the SIA whether your lot is still inside a valid sanction. Third, none of the three memoranda extends anything for work that had no PPA or NTP by 31 December 2025. The Lok Sabha wording ("all components") is broader than MNRE's own memoranda, and the memoranda are what the SIAs act on. Treat the memoranda as the rule and the Lok Sabha line as a headline.

On a successor scheme, the 28 March 2026 memorandum says the Department of Expenditure has told MNRE that the committed liabilities of PM-KUSUM "will be subsumed under the new scheme, PM KUSUM 2.0, which is in the proposal stage". We found no official notice that PM-KUSUM 2.0 has been approved or launched, and the 28 September 2026 memorandum says no completion extension will be given beyond 31 March 2027. Check the portal's "What's New" list and your SIA before you plan around either.

Where the work is: IPS is thin, FLS carries the pumps

Official numbers show that almost all Component C volume sits in feeder solarisation. As on 30 November 2025, states had sanctioned 55,828 pumps under IPS and 35,27,492 pumps under FLS, as reported by State Implementing Agencies (PIB release of 10 Dec 2025 on Lok Sabha Q 1770). IPS is about 1.6% of the combined total.

Source for the table: PIB release of 10 December 2025 (Lok Sabha Q 1770, Annexure I), state implementing agencies' figures as on 30 November 2025. Figures count pumps, not rupees or tenders.

Read the table with three cautions. Sanctioned is not tendered, and tendered is not awarded. A state's sanction tells you a district may see work, not that your district will. And the Lok Sabha reply of 29 July 2026 says states with higher subsidies for agriculture feeders are the ones segregating feeders and solarising pumps through FLS, naming Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Haryana as front runners for the scheme as a whole.

Delivery to 30 June 2026 is concentrated. Our sum of the state annexure gives about 8,75,000 pumps in Maharashtra, 3,03,256 in Gujarat and 2,22,853 in Rajasthan (Lok Sabha reply of 29 Jul 2026, Q 1613). The annexure does not split IPS from FLS.

The money: CFA rules, feeder arithmetic and who pays the rest

Under IPS, central assistance is 30% of the benchmark cost or the tender cost, whichever is lower, and 50% in northeastern, hilly and island regions. A state may add its own subsidy, but since an amendment dated 20 November 2023 the state share is no longer mandatory (PIB release of 23 Dec 2023). Without a state subsidy the farmer carries the rest, and banks may lend up to 70% of the cost (clause 6.3.5).

We could not find a notified per-kW IPS benchmark in any official document we could open. The PIB release of 23 Dec 2023 says MNRE issued a benchmark for Component B in September 2023 and mentions none for IPS. The price you quote comes from your SIA's tender, not from this article.

For FLS the arithmetic starts from the feeder's consumption, not the pump count. The guidelines size the plant from the average of the last three years' consumption at a minimum 19% annual CUF, and give their own example: 10 lakh units a year needs about 600 kW (clause 6.4.3).

The money reaches the vendor through the implementing agency. MNRE releases CFA to the agency in stages: for IPS, 30% as an advance after the letters of award, 60% on the second instalment and 10% on the project completion report (clause 5.3.4, which clause 6.3.5 applies to IPS). For FLS in CAPEX mode, up to 40% of CFA goes as an advance after the work agreement with the EPC contractor, and the balance on commissioning. In RESCO mode, 100% of CFA is released through the DISCOM after two months of successful operation (MNRE guidelines, clause 6.4, release of funds for FLS). What the vendor gets, and when, is whatever the tender says, as the Kerala example shows later.

How the tenders really work: two real documents

The national guidelines tell states to tender and let them write the conditions. The conditions are where a district installer wins or loses, so we opened one pump tender and one feeder tender from the state agencies themselves.

Pump solarisation: Kerala's rate contract for IPS

The Agency for New and Renewable Energy Research and Technology (ANERT), under Kerala's Department of Power, published an EoI on 24 June 2024 for additional empanelment of vendors under a rate contract. It covers 9,348 grid-connected agricultural pumps from 2 kW to 150 kW under Component C, with bids due on 18 July 2024 (ANERT rate-contract EoI of 24 Jun 2024). The gates it sets show why a small firm rarely bids alone.

Only manufacturers of PV modules or solar pumps, or a joint venture of an EPC firm with a module manufacturer, could bid (clause 10.1.3). A solar grading from the rating agency ICRA was a pre-qualification condition. A bidder needed completed solar installations of at least 500 kW for lots up to 10 kW and at least 3 MW above that. Bidders had to quote in both groups. Only rates from ICRA grades 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A and 2B counted for L1 (lowest bidder) price discovery. The tender fee was ₹17,700, and the earnest money deposit (EMD) was ₹5,00,000 with an exemption allowed.

MNRE's 2024 text lists system integrators and aggregators among eligible bidders, subject to the tender's own technical and financial criteria (clause 6.3.4). Kerala's tender was narrower. The tender you face is what binds you, so read it rather than the scheme summary.

The terms after the award matter just as much. A performance bank guarantee (BG) of 3% of the final project cost is rolled over for the first seven years. ANERT pays no advance. It releases 50% of the contract value on delivery of major components, 30% on commissioning, and 20% only when funds for that installation arrive from MNRE. The warranty is seven years, longer than MNRE's five-year AMC, with a service centre in each district and one more for every 500 installations per district, and a fault to be fixed within seven days (clauses 14, 15 and 38).

Feeder solarisation: Maharashtra's MSKVY 2.0 tender

Maharashtra runs FLS through Mukhyamantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana 2.0 (MSKVY 2.0). MSEB Solar Agro Power Limited (MSAPL), a subsidiary of MSEB Holding Company, is the nodal agency. Its RfS of 4 January 2024 for 231 MW in the Nashik region describes itself as a scheme "launched for implementation of feeder level solarisation under Component C of PM-KUSUM" (MSAPL RfS for 231 MW in Nashik, 4 Jan 2024). At 33/11 kV substations the document allows plants of up to 5 MW, preferably within about 5 km. At 132/33 kV substations it allows 5 to 25 MW, preferably within about 10 km (MSKVY 2.0 scheme document of 22 Apr 2023; MSKVY 2.0 site).

The gate is financial. The bidder's net worth must be at least ₹1 crore per MW over the last three years. Turnover must be at least ₹25 lakh per MW, or profit before depreciation, interest and tax (PBDIT) at least ₹10 lakh per MW. EMD is ₹1 lakh per MW. Bidders quote a tariff for the capacity not eligible for CFA and a discount for the capacity that is, and the two are combined into one weighted tariff. The scheduled commercial operation date is 12 months from the effective date of the PPA, and the term is 25 years.

The Four Seats Test: where a local installer can sit

We use a simple tool for deciding whether Component C is a business for you. Every rupee in Component C passes four seats. For each seat ask three things: what the document requires, what you hold today, and who pays you and when. We call it the Four Seats Test. If you cannot name a paying counterparty for a seat, you are not in that seat yet.

1. 1

   Seat 1: the bidder

   Holds the rate contract or PPA with the agency. The gates above apply: manufacturing tie-up or JV, graded rating, net worth or completed MW, BGs. Most district installers are not here alone.

2. 2

   Seat 2: the delivery partner

   Builds for the bidder. In FLS CAPEX the agency signs a work agreement with an EPC contractor (clause 6.4.4). In RESCO the developer owns the plant and arranges its construction. Whether a winner uses outside EPC partners is the winner's choice, and nothing in the guidelines requires it.

3. 3

   Seat 3: the site crew

   Does civil work, structures, cabling and pump-side work for a seat 1 or seat 2 firm. Kerala's 2024 tender bars the contractor from subletting any part of the work without the purchasing officer's written consent, which can be refused or withdrawn at any time (clause 11.14). So this seat needs the bidder to obtain consent, not just to agree.

4. 4

   Seat 4: the service desk

   Handles the quarterly inspection, the helpline and the fast fix. The guidelines require a service centre in each operational district and 5 years of AMC with insurance, and Kerala's tender adds a 7-day repair rule. A vendor that is strong in module supply but thin in a district needs someone local.

This is our reading of the documents, not a promise of work. Seats 2 to 4 depend on a winning bidder choosing to buy your capacity, and a winner may use its own people. That is why we call it a test: it tells you where you stand, not where you will be hired.

How a local installer can realistically participate

Start from seat 4 or seat 3 and work up. We think a district installer with service credibility is more useful to a winning vendor than one with only a price. You can prepare while you wait, and none of it needs a tender to be open.

1. 1

   Find your state's Component C agency

   It is the DISCOM, the energy department's nominated agency, or a state renewable agency. Look for it on the agency site, not on a dealer's WhatsApp group. MSAPL for Maharashtra and ANERT for Kerala publish their tenders on their own pages.

2. 2

   Read the last tender, not the scheme summary

   Note who may bid, the experience and net worth gates, the payment split, the BG, the warranty and the service-centre rule. Then note who won, because the winner is your possible counterparty.

3. 3

   Map your own seat

   Write down your references in kW, your crew strength per district, your service capability and your working capital. Match each to one of the four seats.

4. 4

   Approach winners before a round, not during it

   Offer a specific capability, such as a trained crew in a named district or a service desk. If the tender restricts subletting, ask the bidder to confirm the agency's written consent, and never start on a verbal go-ahead.

Cash flow, bank guarantees and the five-year tail

Component C is a working-capital business. The vendor is paid in stages, some tied to funds from the Ministry, and carries a service tail for years. Plan for the gap between the outlay and the last 20% before you take a seat.

For funding the gap, see our guide to solar business loan options. For payment milestones in your own contracts, see payment terms for solar projects, and for the service side, the solar AMC business model. Some IPS designs rely on net metering, which the guidelines say "may be provided", so check your DISCOM's own rules.

How Quickest Solar CRM fits

Quickest Solar CRM does not find tenders or file subsidy claims, and we do not suggest otherwise. What it does help with is the part you control: knowing which conversations are live. A Component C business runs on a few long conversations, such as a winning bidder, an agency officer and a district service contract, and they die in a notebook.

• Pipeline Management, lets you name your own lead stages, for example "agency identified", "last tender read", "partner call done", "written consent received", "work order", and see every conversation by stage.
• Use labels for the state or agency and follow-up reminders for the next tender window, so a round does not pass unnoticed.
• Log each call or email as an activity on the lead, and let team members with permissions see the same history.
• See how stages and labels look on a demo before you set up your own.

What to do this week if you work in a farm district

1. Identify your state's Component C agency and read its last tender. Note the bidders, the gates and the payment split. This takes an afternoon.
2. Ask your State Implementing Agency in writing whether an IPS or FLS lot is open in your district, and whether it falls inside a valid sanction, and whether the PPA or NTP is dated on or before 31 December 2025, which is the condition MNRE attaches to the 31 March 2027 completion date.
3. Run the Four Seats Test on your own firm. Write one line per seat on what you hold today and who would pay you.
4. Line up your bank guarantee and working capital conversation before you approach a winning bidder, not after.

Frequently asked questions

What is PM-KUSUM Component C?

Component C is the part of PM-KUSUM that solarises grid-connected agriculture. It has two modes: individual pump solarisation (IPS, C1) on a farmer's existing pump, and feeder level solarisation (FLS, C2) through a solar plant near a distribution substation. Central assistance is 30% of cost, or 50% in northeastern, hilly and island regions (MNRE guidelines, 17 Jan 2024).

What is the difference between IPS and FLS?

IPS puts solar on individual pumps, with PV up to two times the pump capacity in kW so the farmer can sell surplus to the DISCOM. FLS puts a plant near a substation sized to the feeder's agricultural consumption and supplies the feeder. Official data to 30 Nov 2025 shows 55,828 pumps sanctioned under IPS and 35,27,492 under FLS (PIB, 10 Dec 2025).

Is PM-KUSUM still valid in October 2026?

The Lok Sabha reply of 29 July 2026 says the implementation timeline is extended till 31 March 2027 for all components. MNRE's memorandum of 28 September 2026 is narrower: it sets 30 November 2026 as the last date for financial closure under Components A and C, gives completion until 31 March 2027 only where the PPA was signed or the NTP issued on or before 31 December 2025, and says no extension will be granted beyond 31 March 2027. Confirm with your State Implementing Agency which dates govern your lot before committing stock or crews.

Who tenders Component C work?

DISCOMs, GENCOs or departments the state designates are the implementing agencies, and tenders follow MNRE rules with state conditions on top (MNRE guidelines, clauses 6.1 and 6.4.1). Examples are ANERT in Kerala for pump-level rate contracts and MSEB Solar Agro Power Limited in Maharashtra for feeder plants. Always use the agency's own page.

Can a small local installer bid for Component C?

Often not alone. Kerala's 2024 pump tender allowed only module or pump manufacturers or a JV with a module maker, with ICRA grading and 500 kW or 3 MW of completed work. Maharashtra's 2024 feeder RfS asked for net worth of ₹1 crore per MW bid. A local installer is more likely to be a partner, site crew or service provider, subject to the tender's subletting rules.

How is the subsidy paid to the vendor?

MNRE releases CFA to the implementing agency in stages, and the agency pays vendors per the tender. Kerala's 2024 rate contract paid 50% on delivery, 30% on commissioning and 20% when MNRE funds arrived. Under RESCO feeder projects, CFA goes through the DISCOM after two months of successful operation (MNRE guidelines, clause 6.4, release of funds for FLS).

How much is the central subsidy for feeder solarisation?

It is 30% of plant cost, or 50% in the special regions. PIB (23 Dec 2023) states CFA of ₹1.05 crore per MW, which is 30% of a ₹3.5 crore per MW estimate from a PIB release of 4 Dec 2020. MNRE can notify the cost from time to time, so check the current figure with your agency.

What after-sales duties come with Component C?

The vendor provides a five-year AMC including insurance against natural calamities and theft, a quarterly inspection report, a local-language helpline and a service centre in each operational district, plus remote monitoring on IPS pumps (MNRE guidelines, clauses 6.3.6 and 6.4.7). State tenders can go further: Kerala's 2024 tender required a seven-year warranty and a seven-day repair rule.