ENA State 2025-05-16 15:40:28 <p><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Hyderabad, May 16 (KNN)</strong> In a major step towards empowering tribal farmers, the Telangana government has unveiled its new flagship initiative &mdash; the Indira Solar Giri Jal Vikasam scheme.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Announced on Thursday, the scheme aims to provide solar-powered irrigation across six lakh acres over five years, benefiting over 2.1 lakh tribal farmers who received land under the Forest Rights Act (RoFR).</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">With a total budget of Rs 12,600 crore, the project will begin in the 2025-26 fiscal year and run till 2029-30. The official launch is set for May 18 at Macharam village, located in Amrabad mandal of Achampet constituency, and will be led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">The scheme offers 100 per cent subsidy for installing solar-powered irrigation systems and includes support for drip irrigation, high-quality saplings, and intercropping assistance to help farmers generate income while waiting for long-term crops to mature.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Multiple departments &mdash; including forest, energy, agriculture, and rural development, and groundwater&mdash; will jointly implement the project.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">District collectors will act as key implementing authorities, and Project Monitoring Units (PMUs) will be set up in each district to ensure smooth execution.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Unlike other states that only issued RoFR titles, Telangana is the first to design a dedicated irrigation and livelihood scheme specifically for RoFR beneficiaries. The initiative targets both RoFR and non-RoFR forest lands.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Government officials highlighted that though the RoFR Act was introduced in 2006, no major irrigation support had followed until now.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">This scheme aims to change that by ensuring sustainable farming and long-term economic upliftment for tribal communities.</span></p> <p><em><strong><span style="font-size:14px">(KNN Bureau)</span></strong></em></p> 42106 https://knnindia.co.in/news/newsdetails/state/telangana-launches-rs-12600-cr-solar-irrigation-scheme-for-tribal-farmers 2025-05-16 15:40:28 knnindia.co.in