Andhra Pradesh government has set a target to install 7,000 solar agricultural pump sets in the state during the current financial year to reduce the grid power consumption by farmers, a senior official has said.

The farmers will be provided solar pump sets at a subsidised cost, Kamalakar Babu, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP), told reporters here last evening.

The cost of a 5HP pump set is Rs 4.90 lakhs, out of which a farmer has to pay Rs 55,000 and the remaining cost would be borne jointly by the Union government and the Andhra Pradesh Power Distribution Company, he said.

Likewise, the cost of a 3HP pump set is Rs 3.20 lakhs for which farmers have to pay Rs 40,000 as their contribution, he said.

The scheme is being promoted by NREDCAP, AP Power Distribution Company, agriculture and allied departments to reduce the grid power consumption in the agricultural sector.