LAHORE – Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has officially inaugurated the agricultural tubewell solarisation project.
Under this project, 8,000 agricultural tube wells across Punjab will be transitioned to solar energy in the first phase.
Farmers have been selected through a lottery system, with Muhammad Nawaz from Attock being the first winner.
The chief minister also reviewed the list of successful farmers from Narowal district.
Through the solar tubewells, an average farmer will save more than Rs10,000 daily and over Rs325,000 monthly.
The Punjab government will provide a subsidy of Rs500,000 for a 10 kilowatt system, Rs750,000 for a 15 kW system, and Rs1 million for a 20 kW system.
Successful farmers in the draw will be able to select a vendor from their district to install the solar system.
Over 530,000 farmers applied for the project, with 385,000 deemed eligible for the lottery. Of these, 87% of tubewells running on diesel and 13% running on electricity will be converted to solar energy.
The chief minister has set a target to complete the solarisation of agricultural tubewells by June.
She stated that this project will significantly reduce agricultural production costs and bring a revolution in farming.
She added that initiatives like the Kisan Card, agricultural mechanization, and internships are already improving farmers’ lives, and this solarization project will be a new chapter in agricultural development.
