Balochistan, KP, and Sindh Agri-Solar Schemes Roundup 2026

Key Takeaways

• Balochistan's real programme covers about 27,000 registered tube wells at roughly Rs55 billion, shared 70:30 between the federal and Balochistan governments. It is not a 10,000-well project with an 80% grant.
• Up to Rs2 million per well is paid in phases, subject to disconnection from the grid, and farmers buy their own system. Two farmers' accounts in the press put their systems at Rs2.45 million and over Rs4 million.
• The World Bank's Sindh Solar Energy Project was designed to fund solar parks, rooftop solar on public buildings and household solar home systems. We found no agricultural pumping component in its appraisal or completion documents.
• For Khyber Pakhtunkhwa we found government solar tube well projects and no farmer subsidy percentage. The only 50% cost share we found is in a 2021 study of a project that began in 2015-16.
• We found no "500 MW" agricultural solar target for any province.

Introduction

Provincial agri-solar news is easy to get wrong, because several programmes have similar-sounding numbers. Balochistan's tube well conversion, a national programme approved for all four provinces, and a World Bank project in Sindh are distinct programmes, though Express Tribune ties a Rs14 billion federal release for Balochistan to the national programme. This guide takes each from its own documents and dated reports, and marks where we found nothing.

What is the Balochistan programme?

A federal-provincial decision provides for solarisation of approximately 27,000 agricultural tube wells through compensation of up to Rs2 million per tube well having a legal electricity connection, subject to disconnection from the grid. Express Tribune reported the cost as approximately Rs55 billion, borne by the Government of Pakistan and the Government of Balochistan in a 70:30 ratio, with an agreement signed on 8 July 2024.

• Scale. A federal press release of 13 March 2025 counted 27,437 subsidised agricultural tube wells and 10,263 illegal ones in Balochistan. As we read the release, the 10,263 illegal wells are outside the compensation scheme. The Prime Minister quoted 28,000 wells at the July 2024 launch, so counts range from 27,000 to 28,000 depending on who gives them.
• How support is paid. Support is phased cash of up to Rs2 million per well. A report on the Energy Department's reasoning says this lets farmers choose the best solar system available in the market for their land and water requirements. We found no pump or array size in the Act, and we did not find the 8 July 2024 agreement or its standard operating procedures, so we cannot say whether they set one.
• Payment and disconnection. Reports disagree on which comes first. Lok Sujag says the accord between the federal and provincial governments agreed that the grid connection is disconnected as soon as the solarisation money is released, while a Sibi farmer told it he received a government grant and was still using grid electricity. In August 2025 a farmers' body, Kissan Ittehad Pakistan, said promised funds had not been released in Nasirabad Division while connections were cut, and the utility disputes that sequence.
• What a system costs. The government capped its contribution at Rs2 million per connection, and real conversion costs ran significantly higher. A Mastung farmer said he spent over Rs4 million on 112 to 115 panels of 615 watts each, and an apple grower in Khanozai put his system at approximately Rs2.45 million. These are single farmers' accounts. The same magazine says no dedicated bank financing was available for the shortfall.
• The law. The Balochistan Agricultural Solarization and Electricity Theft Prevention Act was passed on 3 June 2025. The Act's definition of the standard operating procedure, which the government notifies, refers to registered legal tube wells getting power from Qesco or another supplier's grid, and the Act applies to beneficiaries who received the payments. It comes into force on a date to be notified, and we did not find whether it has been. Once in force, a farmer who reconnects to the grid after taking the facility faces imprisonment up to one year or a fine not less than PKR 2.00 million, or both.
• Numbers you may have seen. The only 10,000 figure we found is a January 2020 feasibility report for over 10,000 wells. The only "80 per cent" we found in this context is the chief minister's statement to the Assembly, reported by Dawn on 4 June 2025, that 80 per cent of landowners had been provided funds. That is a share of landowners paid, not a grant rate.

Delivery so far

We found no audited count. Third-party validation was announced in 2025, but we found no result. The figures below come from different owners.

Express Tribune reported in May 2025 that the delay in fund utilisation and the security situation had hampered progress. The federal Ministry of Water Resources opposed the solarisation in October 2024, citing depletion of the water table, and the Irrigation Secretary quoted by Express Tribune in September 2026 said there is currently no province-wide statutory limit on the number of hours a solar agricultural tube well can operate. Our groundwater guide covers the rules that do exist.

What did the World Bank's Sindh Solar Energy Project fund?

The Sindh Solar Energy Project is World Bank project P159712, implemented by the Sindh Energy Department. Its stated aim is to increase solar power generation and access to electricity in Sindh Province. At appraisal in May 2018 its component lines were as follows. PMU costs of 5.00 are listed separately, and total project cost is 105.00.

None is an agricultural pumping line, and a keyword search of the appraisal and completion documents found no mention of agriculture, farms, pumps or tube wells. The completion report records distributed solar capacity of approximately 35 MW on public buildings and electricity access for 1,010,598 people through solar home systems against a target of 1,200,000, with households contributing PKR 6,000 toward units costing approximately US$150. The project closed on 31 July 2025. The report says that at closure implementation of the Karachi solar IPPs had stalled, and rates the outcome Moderately Unsatisfactory.

A different World Bank project in Sindh, the Sindh Water and Agriculture Transformation Project, finances smart subsidy payments to targeted farmers. Its description names no solar pump component, and we did not read its subsidy manual.

For Sindh farm solar we found only older items: an IWMI study recorded PKR 802 million earmarked in 2017 for solar pumps and tube wells at subsidised rates, with the success of the programme unknown, and a 2014 statement of intent for 250 solar tube wells. We found no 2025 or 2026 Sindh Agriculture Department scheme with a subsidy rate on an official page, but the department's website did not load for us.

What has Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced?

Reports describe government solar tube well projects, not a farmer subsidy percentage:

• July 2026: APP reported that the KP government had approved installation of 420 solar-powered tube wells: a budget of Rs two billion for 320 in various districts, and 100 in Kohat under a special package costing Rs225 million.
• September 2026: the Adviser to the Chief Minister for Agriculture said 400 agricultural tube wells were being shifted to solar energy, of which 235 had been solarised so far, 151 in settled districts and 84 in merged districts. The project, costing approximately Rs 1.12 billion, would benefit 1,000 farmers.
• August 2023: the caretaker cabinet approved a proposal for solarisation of 28,000 agricultural tubewells across the province at a cost of Rs30 billion. We found no status or delivery report for it in 2024 to 2026 sources.

The only 50 percent figure we found is in an IWMI situation analysis of January 2021, which records the KP Directorate of Agricultural Engineering sharing 50% of the cost with farmers for pumping machinery and solar pumps in rain-fed areas, under a project called Provision of Pumping Machinery for Productivity Enhancement in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We could not confirm its 2026 status. We found no KP notice giving a pump size range, district list or application route. The KP Agriculture Department's Expression of Interest for Subsidy/Grants PDFs returned page-not-found, so what they cover is unknown.

What is the national programme?

ECNEC approved a national programme for solarisation of agriculture tube-wells in July 2023, at a cost of Rs377 billion over three years across Punjab, Sindh, KPK and Balochistan. It targets converting the existing 100,000 tube-wells, 50,000 diesel-run and 50,000 electric. Phase-I was planned at Rs90 billion including Rs30 billion of PSDP. The plan shares the cost equally between the federal government, the provincial government and the beneficiary farmer, and says tube-wells will be solarised at the same level as their existing capacity. In July 2024 the Prime Minister said that following Balochistan the federal government would collaborate with Punjab, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Balochistan's 70:30 scheme is a separate agreement, though Express Tribune reported that a Rs14 billion federal release for it came through a technical supplementary grant from the National Food Security and Research Division's allocation, under the Prime Minister's National Programme for Solarisation of Agriculture Tube Wells. We found no delivery report under the national programme in Punjab, Sindh or KP.

Is there a 500 MW target?

We found no source for a collective or per-province 500 MW agricultural solar target. The only 500 MW figure we found is on an undated Sindh Energy Department page listing goals to generate 4000 MW through wind, 500 MW through solar PV and 100 MW through solar thermal. It is not agricultural. Other MW figures near this topic are grid-load measures: the 67.4 MW above, and a Qesco claim that its load has decreased by 200 to 250 MW.

Summary and Recommendations

• In Balochistan, only registered subsidised connections are covered. Ask the Energy Department or Qesco how the phases are paid, and get itemised quotes before you disconnect, because Rs2 million did not cover a full system for the farmers who reported their costs.
• Do not assume a subsidy percentage. In Sindh and KP we found none confirmed for farmers in 2026, and the national plan's equal three-way sharing is a plan with no delivery report found.
• Check the water. The federal water ministry opposed the Balochistan scheme on groundwater grounds in October 2024, and we do not know its later position. In September 2026 the Irrigation Secretary said there is no province-wide statutory limit on pumping hours.
• For Punjab, see our guide to the Chief Minister's tube well programme.

Correction, 28 October 2026: earlier versions of this guide described a "10,000 Solar Tube Well Project" with an 80% grant and 25 to 40 HP arrays, a World Bank agricultural pumping component in Sindh, a KP scheme of 50% grants on 3 to 7.5 HP pumps and a 500 MW target. None could be found as described in any source we read, and they have been replaced.