Sudam Babu  | State Bureau Chief Odisha

Odisha is moving towards a new model of agricultural development that combines farming with renewable energy generation, as Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo announced that the state is finalising its proposed Agri-PV Policy 2026. The announcement was made at the 7th Agrivoltaics World Conference 2026, held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on October 22.

Speaking during a ministerial session organised in collaboration with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), Singh Deo presented Odisha’s vision of enabling farmers to earn from both agricultural production and solar power.

One Field, Two Sources of Income

The proposed policy is built around the concept of “One Field, Two Harvests,” under which agricultural land can support crop cultivation alongside solar energy generation. The government aims to place farmers’ interests at the centre of this approach, ensuring that renewable energy development complements rather than replaces farming activities.

According to the policy framework outlined at the conference, Odisha intends to establish 1 gigawatt of agrivoltaic capacity by 2030. The proposed safeguards would require at least 90 per cent of each project site to remain under active cultivation, while preserving the agricultural classification of the land and farmers’ eligibility for crop insurance.

The approach is intended to create additional income opportunities for farming households without requiring them to abandon their traditional agricultural activities.

Farmers to Benefit Through Ownership or Partnerships

The proposed framework offers farmers different ways to participate in agrivoltaic projects. Those who wish to invest directly could generate income from both crop production and electricity sales. Alternatively, farmers could collaborate with solar developers through land-leasing arrangements offering assured long-term rental income.

The policy also proposes measures to improve investment certainty. These include 25-year power purchase agreements with GRIDCO, electricity offtake arrangements, grid connectivity and open-access provisions.

The state intends to simplify the process through which farmers can join projects and connect agrivoltaics with other agricultural support measures, including drip irrigation, solar-powered pumps, cold storage facilities and agro-processing infrastructure.

Solar Infrastructure Could Strengthen Climate Resilience

Climate adaptation is another important objective of the proposed initiative. Rising temperatures and increasingly unpredictable rainfall could place additional pressure on Odisha’s agricultural sector in the coming decades.

Raised solar panels installed above cultivated fields can help create partial shade, reduce direct exposure to intense sunlight and conserve soil moisture under suitable conditions. These benefits may support certain crops during periods of heat stress while improving working conditions for agricultural labourers.

However, outcomes depend on factors such as crop selection, panel height, spacing, sunlight requirements and local weather conditions. Careful project design and field-level testing will therefore be important to ensure that electricity generation does not undermine agricultural productivity.

Emphasising the government’s commitment to farmer empowerment, Singh Deo said the objective was to transform farmers from Annadata (food providers) into Urjadata (energy providers), creating new economic opportunities through clean energy.

Building on Odisha’s Renewable Energy Plans

The proposed Agri-PV Policy 2026 builds on Odisha’s broader renewable energy ambitions, including its Renewable Energy Policy 2022 and an investor conclave held in February 2026.

According to the information presented at the conference, the investor conclave attracted clean energy investment commitments worth approximately ₹67,000 crore across projects representing 6.8 GW of capacity.

The state has also begun ground-level work through a reported 1 MW agrivoltaic project. A pilot collaboration with Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University is intended to explore advanced solutions suited to local agricultural conditions.

The initiative could be significant for a state with substantial areas of potentially suitable agricultural and fallow land. The figures cited at the conference identify approximately 40.7 lakh acres of suitable cropland and 47.7 lakh acres of fallow land as potential areas for agrivoltaic development.

Odisha Invites Global Participation

Concluding his address, the Deputy Chief Minister invited international research organisations, private investors and other Indian states to collaborate in developing farmer-focused agrivoltaic projects.

Senior Odisha government officials, including Vishal Kumar Dev, Additional Chief Secretary for Energy, and Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav, Commissioner-cum-Secretary for Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, also participated in the conference.

If implemented with effective safeguards, the proposed policy could provide Odisha’s farmers with a supplementary source of income while supporting clean electricity generation and climate-resilient agriculture.

The next important step will be translating the policy framework into practical projects that protect agricultural productivity, provide fair financial returns to farmers and ensure that renewable energy development remains compatible with long-term food security.