08 | February | 2014 | Kevin's Walk on the Wild Side

Gigaom

The Indian government is looking to deliver one of the most ambitious projects involving solar-powered water pumps in the world. According to Bloomberg, the Indian government is looking to exchange 26 million ground water pumps, which now mostly run on grid electricity or diesel, with more efficient and solar-powered water pumps.

The country will spend $1.6 billion over five years on getting just the first 200,000 deployed, according to the article. Farmers will get the subsidies, and in exchange will also get water-saving systems so that try to help them not use more water than they did with the grid and diesel-connected pumps. Take these project numbers with a grain of salt, as the Indian government has a long history of make these types of goals more aspirational than concrete and viable.