Mapping policy for solar irrigation across the Water– Energy–Food (WEF) Nexus in India

This paper seeks to assist policy-makers and researchers in India who are working to promote the uptake of offgrid, solar-powered pumps for groundwater irrigation (“off-grid solar pumps”). Implementing such policies can be challenging because of the complicated interconnections between water, energy and food—often referred to as the “water–energy–food nexus” or WEF nexus. This briefing sets out key WEF linkages of importance for off-grid solar pumps. It then establishes an approach for identifying policies across the WEF nexus that are key for off-grid solar pumps and maps these policies at the Central Government level and in two states: Bihar and Rajasthan. Based on these findings, the paper concludes with recommendations for policy-makers.